Set in Stone
by BeautifulBestseller
Summary: Hermione is heartbroken over Ron and Lavender. Is Ron really the only one for her or can someone else fix her? Can she give him what he seeks?
1. Chapter 1

1-THE HANDKERCHIEF

It was a rare afternoon that Harry got to spend some time with Ron. He hadn't seen his best mate in a while…since the day he kissed Lavender and they started spending every waking moment together. Harry had seen Hermione heading towards him and he'd been about to wave but when she saw Ron she vanished. Harry sighed and cleaned his glasses on his robes as Ron started to set up the wizard's chess. He wondered why Hermione was being so weird. Surely _she _didn't like Ron?

As they began to play, Ron started to tap his fingers on the desk.

"Snape is such an idiot." Ron snapped, as his knight viciously ripped the head of Harry's queen. "Lavender didn't deserve detention."

Harry felt slightly sick at the soppy way Ron said her name. Harry had expected them to split up almost immediately but they'd been together a good three months and nothing seemed about to give.

"I hope she comes back soon." Ron glanced around the room.

"Right." Harry said, moving a pawn and wishing he'd gone to the library with Hermione instead.

"Harry?" Ron sounded…nervous.

"Yeah?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Have…have you ever…do you…do you think you've ever loved anyone? Like Cho?"

There was a pause. When Ron asked Harry is he'd loved anyone, his mind didn't spring to Cho. It instead sprang to a pretty, petite redhead, whose hair he wanted to stroke, whose hands he wanted to hold, whose lips he wanted to kiss….but he couldn't. Not Ron's sister.

"I didn't love Cho." Harry said truthfully. "But she didn't love me either. We never had a chance, she was in love with Cedric and I was in lo…uh…freaked out about Voldemort."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure…" said Harry, with a very bad feeling. Ron leaned forwards.

Behind the tapestry, Hermione listened too. She hadn't meant to listen, but it had been the only place to hide before Ron saw her. She didn't want to talk to Ron. But it seemed he had a confession to make…and her heart desperately hoped that it was that he didn't love Lavender…and that he loved someone else instead. Someone closer to home.

"I love her. Lavender. She's all I can think about all of the time. In lessons I don't hear a word because I can't keep my eyes off her…off her body…which by the way looks SO much better when it's not covered with robes…mmm. But it's not just about the physical stuff Harry; she's the only girl I can ever see myself with. The only person I ever want to hold and talk to and love. I can…I can see her in my future. Everywhere I look. _Those _blue eyes, _that _blonde hair, _that _girl. And by some crazy miracle she loves me too…Imagine, Lavender Weasley." Ron grinned goofily and Harry wondered if pretending to vomit was an appropriate response.

Behind the tapestry, a heart shattered. Holding back sobs, Hermione retreated into the corner of the cubbyhole. She was surprised but relieved to discover that there was a hidden door – allowing her to escape the Gryffindor common room without Ron seeing her. She was on the fourth floor somewhere – a fairly empty corridor at the busiest of times. Now, it was deserted. Hermione didn't have the strength to stand and she sank to the floor, her back to a corner.

He'd done _physical _stuff with Lavender. He wanted to _marry _her. He _loved _her and she loved him. Hermione was choking on air, crying desperately, yearning for arms that she could never had. The future she'd envisaged was gone. Her wildest dreams smashed and broken at her feet.

The words echoed in her head, in the voice that she'd come to love with a yearning passion. She heard footsteps, but she didn't look up. Nobody would bother a crying girl. In theory.

Malfoy absentmindedly strolled along a corridor somewhere. He was avoiding Pansy Parkinson who wanted to get together after their string of one-nighters. Malfoy was a bit of a womaniser. He'd slept with a good handful of Slytherin girls, many of them in the year below. They were all too willing to get in with the old, rich Malfoy family. _Pathetic _thought Malfoy. While the sex was good, they didn't satisfy the craving he found in himself. Not a craving to be physically satiated but a craving to be loved. For who he was and not for his name. But that wasn't why Pansy wanted to be his girlfriend. She was just after his money and reputation, like all the other whores.

A noise distracted his absent strolling and he looked down to see a girl curled up in a corner. Disgruntled, he took in the bushy brown locks of the Granger girl. She was probably sleeping after staying up all night working. Nerd. Mudblood.

"Oi, mudblood, stop sleeping." He sneered, kicking her foot before walking on. He walked slowly, in the mood for confrontation, but she didn't retaliate. That was odd. Granger normally always had some form of retaliation – she was smart like him and good at comebacks. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Granger wasn't _sleeping _but crying.

She probably failed some test or something. He was going to walk off but then he thought when would Granger _ever _fail a test? Slowly, he turned around.

There was something…something in those brown teary eyes that he couldn't walk away from. No gentleman left a girl crying, even if she was a Gryffindor AND a mudblood in one.

"What's the matter?" He asked, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. He was used to seducing girls, not reassuring them. She looked up at him through her wet lashes, bewilderment showing in her eyes. Like warm pools of liquid chocolate. God, she was beautiful. How had he not noticed? The almond shape of her eyes, the perfection of her nose, the fantastically high planes of her cheekbones, her full kissable lips. He'd been blinded by her lowly status. She was practically a muggle for god's sake.

"Why do you care?" she whispered. She couldn't get angry at Malfoy because everything was focussed on trying to fix her broken heart. She needed to stay strong. But…he wanted to _marry _her for goodness sake. She would never be Hermione Weasley. But there would be a Lavender Weasley. The thought brought on a fresh wave of tears and she buried her face in her hands.

Mainly because he wanted to see her face again, Malfoy crouched down next to her and fished in his pocket for his silk handkerchief, with the DM sewn in green on the corner.

Down the corridor, a teacher stopped in shock and made himself invisible.

Was Draco Malfoy actually preying on Granger now? Snape fumed. Granger was his best student. He couldn't let Malfoy ruin her like he'd ruined so many other girls. After him, they just gave up trying. Snape didn't like Granger but he wouldn't want her future to be ruined by Draco. But…something about the situation seemed odd to Snape. Malfoy was tenderly pulling the girls wrists from her face…and gently drying her eyes with his handkerchief.

Why would Draco choose Granger for one of his…past times, Snape thought wryly. Draco hated anyone who wasn't Pureblood like him…and he hated Granger. It seemed strange that he would want her for sex. Shrugging, Snape hurried away. He had things to do. He'd keep an eye on the situation and if it did seem that his Slytherin was messing Hermione around then he would step in.

Hermione held still as Draco dried her eyes, wondering if perhaps she was dreaming. Draco hated her. She was a muggle-born…he called her a mudblood. Why was he drying her eyes and murmuring 'it's okay, it's okay'? Nothing made sense.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice echoed down the corridor. After the conversation with Ron, Lavender had turned up and Harry had gratefully escaped. Unable to find Hermione in her normal haunts, he'd begun to wander all over the castle for want of something better to do, hoping she wasn't in a bathroom somewhere.

Draco stiffened.

"Here," he stuffed the handkerchief into Her hand and gently closer Her fingers around it. "Give it back…when you don't need it anymore."

Before he left, his hands closed in a brief squeeze around her shoulder ad before she could thank him for his unexpected kindness he was gone.

_I was just being a gentleman. I was just being a gentleman. _Hissed Draco to himself as he hurried away. He crashed into Millie Blackward, a tall curvy girl with blonde hair in the year below. She grinned coyly at him – they had history – and he threw himself into her open embrace to try and wipe the image of that beautiful face from his eyelids…

"HERM-Oh there you are." Harry skidded to a breathless halt, when he spotted his best friend. She was examining a piece of silk, an odd look on her face. "What's that?"

"Oh…nothing." She said, blushing. She stood and stuffed the thing in her pocket. "Shall we go to the Library?"


	2. Chapter 2

2 – SOMETHING BETTER 

At breakfast the next day, Hermione sat down next to Harry as normal and started spooning cereal into a bowl.

"You okay?" Harry asked, looking at his best friend in concern. That night he'd been doing some thinking…thinking about why Hermione was sat in an empty corridor on her own with her eyes all red like she'd been crying. Harry knew that he wasn't the most perceptive of people, but he'd spoken to Ginny (it was just an innocent talk, Ron couldn't complain surely?) and Ginny had said that it was a possibility that Hermione did like Ron…in the same way as Lavender.

"_But he annoys her!" Harry had protested, trying not to look at Ginny's lips. _

_"Yes, but love…love isn't like that. It doesn't always work in the way you expect." Ginny said, a strange look in her eyes._

"_Do you love Dean?" Harry blurted out, blushing to the tips of his ears at the obvious note of anger in his voice. Maybe she mistook it as brotherly concern. Her brown eyes met his._

"_No." She replied. "We broke up last week. Anyway, I'm going to go to the Library to do an essay. See you around Harry." She patted his knee…god was she trying to kill him?...and vanished. So…Hermione liked Ron. And Ginny…Ginny was single. Harry spent the rest of the evening with a pensive look on his face. _

"I'm fine." Hermione said tersely, averting her eyes from where Ron was eating Lavender for breakfast. It still hurt as much as yesterday…because the night before when she'd gone up to bed, there had only been Ron and Lavender in there. Ron left without his top, blushing a bright red. Hermione had cried herself to sleep, the only comfort being the handkerchief which she used a lot.

It was now in her cardigan pocket, she's performed a quick washing spell on it – fairly sure Draco wouldn't want her tears all over his hankie – and decided to look for an opportunity to give it back. He might decide to try and use it against her at some point – say she stole it or something. True, he had been extremely kind yesterday but one random act of kindness couldn't erase over five years of discord.

"Are you sure?" Harry said, tentatively, lowering his voice. "It's just that…well…"

"What?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes. Harry never had been good with the whole talking thing – like most boys really.

Harry leaned over and brushed aside a curl of her hair to whisper in her ear. Unbeknown to him, Draco saw the action and stiffened in his seat. How could he touch her so casually? Like she was his to touch when he felt like it?

"_Whenever I saw Ginny with Dean it upset me." _Harry whispered. Hermione looked at him and her eyes filled with tears. Pretending nothing was happening was only easy until someone reminded her. And now Harry knew that she was in love with Ron, knew that she loved someone who wanted to MARRY another girl.

"Harry…"

"No it's okay Hermione. There's plenty more fish…" Harry began his commiserations speech that he'd been rehearsing. He'd picked up some tips on what to say from a muggle girls magazine he'd discovered under a chair in the common room.

"I don't _want _anyone else," Hermione spat, jumping to her feet. "I want _him_ but I can't have him because he prefers some stupid fluffy pink imbecile. Nothing you say about stupid fish is going to change the fact that he thinks _she _is better than _me."_

With that, she pushed away from the table and swiftly ran from the room before she cried in front of everyone, leaving her uneaten cereal behind her.

Five minutes later, Draco Malfoy abruptly left the Slytherin table, a pastry hidden in his pocket. Professor Snape watched him go and he watched four or five girls watching him go as well.

"Minerva?" He said quietly and the old witch turned to him.

"Yes, dear?" She asked, smiling placidly at him.

"Granger, is Granger okay?" He asked. Minerva raised an eyebrow. Why was Snape concerned about her lions?

"Yes, Granger is fine. Why wouldn't she be?"

"Hmmpf."

Snape was miffed. Well and truly confused. Draco Malfoy surely did not have a death wish – he wouldn't mess around with a muggle born for the sake of it – his father would never allow it. But Draco's leaving shortly after Granger – and hiding food in his pocket – was suspicious. Snape knew why he was hooked on the situation and he wished he could stop, but he couldn't. Hermione Granger was a bright, brilliant Gryffindor muggle born. Draco Malfoy was a pureblood. The situation mirrored the one of his past too much and if there was any way he could stop the muggle born getting her heart broken by foolish arrogance, then he would. He would be atoning for what he had done until the very end of time. He knew that.

"Granger!" Draco called.

He'd had to hurry to catch up with her and now she was about to go into the Gryffindor common room – somewhere he couldn't follow.

She turned, tears streaking her face again. Draco wanted to know who had made her cry. He wanted to hurt them.

And he didn't know why.

"I…I saw that you hadn't eaten. I brought you this." He held out the pastry that he'd wrapped in the green napkin.

With a (beautiful) bemused look on her face, Hermione took the pastry.

"Thanks, Draco." She whispered. Electric coursed through his body as his first name passed those beautiful lips.

"It's okay," he smiled awkwardly. "I…I…I've got to go."

He spun on his heel and had gone before Hermione had the chance to give him his handkerchief back. Round the corner, he leaned his back against the cold stone wall and passed a shaking hand over his face. How could this be happening? He was a Malfoy. A pureblood. She was…the daughter of some weirdo teeth doctor people. His father would disown him. His mother…well she wouldn't. But his father disowning him would be the end of his world. All of his connections and chances and the idea of a brilliant future in the high echelons of the Ministry of Magic.

A small voice in Draco's head, tratiourously, whispered _but is it worth it without her? _

"There IS no her," growled Draco furiously and spun, punching the wall as hard as he could. "There can be NO her. She wouldn't WANT someone like me anyway." He punched the wall again, leaving blood behind.

Because why would someone like her ever want someone like him? He'd bedded so many girls – she'd just presume he wanted another notch on his bedpost, another hole in his belt.

Wait, that was what he wanted. Why would he want anything else?

"I don't want her." He growled to himself. "I can't want her. Dad…ministry job…_muggle born." _

In the girls dormitory, Hermione are the pastry ravenously, wondering if maybe Draco had been hit with an Imperio recently. He seemed to have had a personality transplant over night, and nice as it was it was…disconcerting.

Hermione's eyes caught on a silvery packet sticking out from under Lavender's bed. Rolling her eyes, Hermione stooped to pick it up – Lavender _never _tidied her stuff away. As Hermione recognised the logo on the small foil packet she felt sick. They'd done it…in here. Right next to her bed.

Hermione was running away before she could catch herself and remind herself that she needed to get ready for lessons, which started in ten minutes.

She spent the ten minutes by the lake, crying her eyes out and taking everyone good memory with Ron and ripping it to shreds. She had photos of her him, and Harry and she cut them all so that it was just her and Harry. Even as the tears dried on her face, Hermione saw the mistakes she'd made in dreadful clarity.

She'd assumed that one day they would get together. She'd assumed they had a future. She'd assumed that somewhere, somehow, he loved her too. She'd been wrong on all three counts.

She always sworn that she wouldn't fall in love. That it was foolish, and stupid and ended up in everyone getting hurt. But this time, it was just her that was hurting.

But now for long. If that stupid…redhead…wanted to be with an idiotic blonde then they were suited to each other.

"One day, I'll find someone better." Hermione whispered to herself. After all, if Ron's type of girl was Lavender, then what did that say about him? With the difficult task of rebuilding her heart tentatively began, Hermione made her way to Potions.

"Professor, I'm sorry I'm late," Whispered Hermione, standing by Snape's desk.

"Yes, don't do it again." Snape replied placidly. Hermione blinked. Where was the scathing lecture? The nasty remarks? The docked points? Snape's lips twitched at the corners.

"I won't sir," she replied.

"The instructions are on the board. I have full confidence you will be able to produce a better potion than anyone else in here, despite the handicap of being late."

"T…thankyou sir." She stuttered. Her first compliment from Snape. Weird.

On turning around however, her vague good mood vanished. There was nowhere to sit. Her usual seat next to Harry was occupied by Parvati, who usually sat next to…the git. He was sat next to his future wife, and they appeared to be trying to chop ingredients together. Pathetic. But where was she going to sit? The empty desk at the back that was normally there had vanished.

She felt someone's eyes on her and looked to the left. At a table on his own was Draco. He looked swiftly away and carried on chopping.

Swallowing her fears, Hermione walked to the desk.

"Sorry," she whispered. "There's nowhere else to sit."

"Ha, the mudblood Is sitting next to Draco, poor dude," muttered a Slytherin behind them. Snape's eyes snapped up.

"Shut up," snapped Malfoy. "Can't you see there's nowhere else for her to sit? Button it, you're just trying to make friends now your daddy lost his job for selling dark artefacts."

The culprit blushed red and the other Slytherins smirked at him. They assumed that Draco's put down was because the boy had insulted Granger first and now he couldn't without Snape getting involved. He was just earning brownie points with the head of house by pretending to stick up for the mudblood.

Hermione quickly lit a fire beneath her cauldron and tied up her hair. She settled to chopping her ingredients, ignoring the giggles of the lovesick couple in the corner. She was going to get over Ronal Weasley if it was the last thing she did.

"Hey…uh…you're killing those beans." Draco pointed out quietly. She looked down at the pulverised beans. They would ruin her potion like that – they were meant to be crushed gently…not mashed. She sighed. She needed to focus. She swept them into the bin at the side of the desk and stood to go and get some more from the store.

"Here, I did too many." Draco pushed half of his beans onto her plate.

"Hey, you're bleeding!" She said, grabbing his hand before she could even think about what she was doing. Draco held still in shock as Granger touched his hand, as Granger reached out and touched him with no reservations. She didn't see the boundaries. For her there were none.

The only reason he didn't pull away was because nobody was looking. Everyone was talking and brewing and the darkness of the dungeon made the moment private…almost intimate. For Draco at least.

"What did you do?" She whispered, running her fingertip lightly over the bruising.

"Accident." He muttered. He could _smell _her. Mint and floral and a hint of watermelon.

"Do…do you want me to heal it?"

"Can you?" Draco asked, surpsied. That was advanced magic.

"Well, I want to be a Healer." She looked at him with her brown eyes warm and shining. "Madam Pomfrey has been tutoring me at weekends."

"Oh…go ahead."

She frowned delicately, in beautiful concentration and flourished her wand delicately and gracefully. Surprisingly, he felt his skin begin to knit itself back together and within minutes the cuts and bruising were gone.

She'd just healed the wounds that he'd inflicted because of her.

"Thankyou, Hermione." Her name was like magic on his lips, he savoured it, relished it.

At the end of the lesson, he packed away slowly, still thunderstruck by the amazing events that were going on. He would never have believed it of himself. To allow a mudblood to sit by him…to touch him…to heal him.

And the thing that should have worried Draco, but didn't, was that he was starting to think it wasn't just the physical wounds that Granger might be able to heal. Maybe the emotional lashings of his father could be forgotten. Maybe he could break free of the control that Lucius exercised over him. Maybe he could pull off the ties that seemed so set in stone and become something different. Something better.

_**Please review, tell me what you liked and what you didn't – it's the only way I can keep writing what you like **_

_**Thanks for reading**_

_**xxxx**_


	3. Chapter 3

3) And they thought Capulet falling in love with Montague was a problem?

Hermione was sat on the window-ledge of the Gryffindor girls dormitory, looking down towards the lake. The common room was empty – everyone was outside in the warmth of the sun. Hermione hadn't felt like going outside, with the carefree shouts of everyone. She was still finding it hard, even a week after she had heard Ron's earth shattering confession. It still felt like she was living in a world of shattered remains and she didn't like it.

Before, it hadn't been that bad. She'd felt angry and heartbroken. But now she just wanted to move on. She just wanted to live and to forget him. Forget the dreams she'd had and build new ones. But the thing was, she didn't know how. She'd never had experience with anything like it before, never having been foolish enough to do what she had always sworn not to.

Love.

Hermione smirked and shook her head. Love…love couldn't be it. Love wasn't one sided. Love was two sided, reciprocated. Like Ron and Lavender. Still, Hermione had taken a vague satisfaction with placing a sticking charm that only she could reverse on Lavender's bed curtains. There would be no more sex in _her _dormitory. Imbeciles.

"I should do some homework," Hermione murmured to herself. It was already halfway through lunchtime and she hadn't done any work at all. She hadn't even done the Potions essay that was due in for the next period. She got out her bag half-heartedly, and found the letter she'd meant to owl to her mum, in reply to the one she'd received earlier that week.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder she decided to head to the Owlery and then the Library. It would be nice and quiet in the Library and she could catch up on the work she'd fallen behind on, mooning about over Ronald Twerphead. Hermione grinned. She knew she was getting herself back now – she finally felt motivated to study again.

With a spring in her step and a pinkness in her cheek, she hurried to the Owlery. She selected the owl that she knew her mum liked – a pale brown female with big green eyes – and coaxed her down.

"Now, remember you've got to be sly. People round Mum and Dad don't know I'm a witch," she said to the bird, stroking her beautiful head. The bird chirped and nodded her head. Suddenly, Hermione had a strange, bizarre and completely irrational urge to confide in the bird. An intelligent being who couldn't talk back and who couldn't tell anyone…

Moving to the thin ledge that looked out on the back of the Hogwarts grounds, Hermione sat, the bird still balancing on her arm.

"I wish I could talk to my mum properly," said Hermione softly. "I just miss her. I could tell her how I felt…and she'd tell me he was an idiot not to want me and give me hot chocolate and hugs. And it's ridiculous, it's ridiculous that a stupid boy has made me feel like this. At first, I was so sad because I wanted to be with him. But now…now I just feel like a complete failure. What was it about me that wasn't good enough? What is it that she has that I don't?" Hermione's eyes were tearing up again, and her throat constricting. "If this is what growing up is, I want to be a kid again," she laughed through her tears. "When my mum and dad told me I was beautiful every day, and when I still believed it. Now I just look in the mirror and I see that I am not and I _wish, _I _wish _that I looked like Lavender, that I was blonde and beautiful and…"

"You are."

Hermione leapt up and turned around, fiercely angry. Who had been listening? Why had they listened? It was _obvious _that this was a private moment…they could have coughed, alerted her of their presence. Saved her the embarrassment of them knowing her deepest insecurities.

Hermione's damp eyes melt Draco's blue ones.

"How _dare _you?" She spat, and before she knew what she was doing she shoved him, as hard as she could and watched with a weird kind of detachment as he fell onto the owl-dropping covered floor. He would use it against her. He would tell people. The whole school would know that Hermione Granger had fallen in love with someone that wouldn't ever love her. Draco blinked in surprise.

"I…I didn't mean.."

"SHUT UP!" She screamed hysterically. "SHUT UP YOU STUPID SNIVELLING IDIOTIC TWAT. I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? WHY WOULD YOU LISTEN TO SOMETHING CLEARLY SO PRIVATE?"

"I..Look, Hermione," Draco stuttered, struggling for words for the first time in his life. She'd pushed him over and was now screaming at him, yet he didn't think he'd ever found anyone more beautiful – and definitely not Lavender Brown. Draco wasn't mad at Hermione for pushing him…but he was mad at the Weasley Scum for hurting someone so amazing.

"NO!" She yelled. "SHUT UP."

Draco got to his feet and without intending to do so, reached out for her.

"DON'T TOUCH ME," she screamed and ran from the Owlery, leaving her open bag on the floor, and a rather disgruntled looking owl perched on the ledge.

Glancing at his watch, Draco cursed. It was the start of last period – they had Potions – and he was fairly sure that Granger's mind was…elsewhere. So what should he do? He shifted from foot to foot as he considered his options.

Go to Potions.

Follow Granger, miss Potions and incur the wrath of a very angry Professor Snape.

Rolling his eyes, he scooped up the letter sat next to the bird and tied it to its leg.

"Uh, hello, please take it to Mr and Mrs Granger." Draco said, wondering if this was a special kind of talking bird…that would make Granger talking to it a _little _bit more normal. But no, it just squawked and flew off.

"Jesus Draco," he muttered as he shut her bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Since when did you do stuff like this?"

But he couldn't just go to Potions, knowing that somewhere there was a heartbroken girl who was hurting even more because of his. Draco didn't understand what that girl had done to him, but it was some bloody powerful witchcraft. She was well and truly under his skin. He hadn't been able to touch another girl since he'd tried to forget Hermione's face by sleeping with Millie.

Millie…Millie was angry with him to say the least. He'd realised, just as they were about to…get down…that this wasn't what he wanted anymore. He'd got up and pulled his robes on and left her there. Because he'd seen himself through Granger's eyes…seem who he was…and he hated it. His whole persona had collapsed with the idea that she didn't like him.

"And they thought Capulet falling in love with Montague was a problem," he muttered as he made his way down the stairs to the entrance hall. "They should try Pureblood Slytherin falling in love with over emotional mudblood who's in love with a ginger idiotic blood traitor. Point me, Hermione Granger."

His wand spun towards the door, and he knew he'd predicted right – she'd forgotten all about Potions in her hysteria. Feeling like a wally with a girls bag slung over his shoulder, he hurried outside, praying that Snape decided to stay with the rest of the class rather than start a search for him and Granger. Hopefully the fact that they were the two highest achievers in his class might mean he overlooked them missing the lesson…but he knew he was kidding himself.

He knew Snape would go mental.

But he didn't care.

"If I was an over-emotional girl, where would I go?" He mused as he set off across the grounds. The edges of the forest, most likely. Far enough in to be hidden from anyone who might be looking for her, but not too far to be in any kind of danger.

As he approached, he knew his instinct had been right…maybe he shouldn't know so much about what being an over-emotional girl would be like, he smirked wryly. Sniffling noises were coming for a particularly dense piece of bush. Pushing his way gently through it, he found Granger sitting on a fallen tree trunk, sobbing so loudly into her hands that she hadn't heard him approach…which was probably best for his personal safety.

He sat tentatively down next to her and she looked up at him. He was relieved to see that the hysterical 'kill Malfoy' look had faded from her face.

"Um," she said. "I…I'm sorry I pushed you and shouted at you." Her face blushed a deep crimson red. "I was embarrassed. I didn't think anyone would hear what I was saying. I didn't know you were there. And…I'm scared you'll tell people. Use it against me."

Draco was silent for a moment as he stared at her.

"You know, I would have done a year ago." She stiffened, but he held a hand up quickly, to prevent further outbursts. "I was different a year ago. A year ago, I didn't care who I hurt. I just saw everybody as players in my game. But…I don't know what's happening to me. I…when I saw you crying last week…well since then I've started to see that caring for people isn't a bad thing. So that is why everything you said in the Owlery will go no further than our ears."

"Do you promise?" She whispered hoarsely.

"I promise you." Draco said and held out his little finger. Unable to supress a smile at the reminder of childhood, Hermione linked little fingers with him.

"Break it and I get to break your finger," she said, with a watery grin.

"I don't doubt that you will either, Hermione." He smiled.

"Why…why are you being nice?"

"I don't know…" he said, raising an eyebrow. "It's not very…me, is it?" She laughed then, properly, happily.

"No," she agreed. "It isn't."

"Lavender Brown isn't half as pretty as you are, Granger." Draco said. "And Ron Weasley never deserved you."

"What's all this?"

"Just trying to cheer you up. You're hurting."

"Kinda." She shrugged. Why deny it? He'd heard the pitiful confessions of her soul. "I just…I want my mum, you know?"

He did know. His mum had been the best thing in his life. Every time his father went off on one of his rants, his mother picked up the pieces. Hugged his so tightly it felt like she could put anything broken back together just with the force of love.

Draco, stood abruptly, wondering if he even had the nerve to do what he wanted. Before he could stop to think (he was doing that a lot lately), he grabbed Granger's wrist and pulled her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her, like his mum did to him when he needed to be comforted.

She stiffened at first, at his touch. But…it felt so nice. She'd been yearning her mum's hug, the soft warmth of enclosing arms. This wasn't the same…it was different because the arms were strong and hard, but the intimacy was the same. The feeling of being so close to someone that you could feel the beat of the heart. The knowledge that someone cared enough to engulf you with themselves. The human contact. Comfort.

She looked up at him and saw his blue eyes smiling at her (could eyes smile? Because his did.) Unsure of herself, she tentatively rested her head against his chest. She was worried that any minute he would realise how much bodily contact he was having with a mudblood and push her off. She wa also worried by the fact that she was hugging Draco Malfoy, sworn enemy of the trio.

But it wasn't the trio anymore. It was a broken trio, dangling and hanging in pieces, two members barely talking and one of those two absent all the time. So maybe sworn enemies didn't have to matter. Harry…Harry wouldn't be spending so much time with her she could see it coming – Ginny had enchanted him to a point that he would devote himself to her. And she'd be alone. Yet, Draco stood offering her a bit of friendship at the time she needed it most.

Why not accept?

He didn't push her off. Instead, his strong palm came up to cradle the back of her head as gently as if he were holding a baby bird.

"Hey, Granger, have you ever played Sticks?" Draco asked.

"No," she said, pulling back a little. He kept his arms slung casually around her waist.

"It's a game I used to play when I was little. Basically if you try hard enough, you can channel magic through just a stick. You get a stone and you choose a stick person by person and each person has to try and turn the stone green….it's about being able to choose a stick that looks like it could be a wand."

"No way," Hermione scoffed.

"Don't believe me? Let's play then!" Draco said, all thoughts of Potions gone in a moment of insanity caused by the warmth of her body against his.

Sure enough, Draco wasn't making it up. They played for a good three hours, the stone flashing green with some sticks but eventually sticking green with a long, thin willow stick that Hermione chose. As they played, Draco told bad jokes and eventually Hermione told him a bit about the muggle world, after he surprised himself by asking.

"What do I win?" She grinned at him

"The ultimate prize of Draco Malfoy's friendship." He said with a haughty smile. Hermione snorted and trod lightly on his foot.

"You're arrogant." She said as her stomach rumbled.

"And you're hungry." He pointed out. "I think we missed dinner…and er…well I think we missed Potions."

Hermione's face was a picture, going from horror to worry to horror to…Draco raised an eywbrow. Hermione shrugged.

"Oh well," she said. "I had more fun with you than I would have in Potions."

"Hermione, are you feeling okay?" Draco queried. Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"Yes," she said with a grin. "I'm happier than I've been in a while."

After that confession, Draco cast disillusionment spells on the two of them and led Hermione to the kitchens, as slowly and carefully as they could, avoiding everyone. For some reason, neither of them could stop giggling and they had to stifle their laughter as Professor Snape strode past them, pressed against a wall, a black look on his face.

In the kitchens, the house elves made them sit by the fire and got them some dinner – a three tiered stand of sandwiches, crisps and mini cakes and a flagon on Butterbeer each. They sat by the warmth of the fire, both thinking how surreal things were turning out to be.

"Professor Snape looked really angry." Hermione said, her worry finally rising above her happiness.

"Yep, he looked like he wanted to kill a small child…no different to usual really."

Hermione laughed, but briefly. She didn't like getting into trouble! She bit her lip and wondered just how much trouble they'd be in, and whether or not her flawless lesson attendance till now would help her case any. Draco saw that she hadn't been placated and patted her hand.

"Look, whatever trouble you get into, I get into too. We're in this together. Friends normally are." He smiled, tentatively.

"So…is that we are?" She asked and Draco had to stifle back his _unfortunately that's ALL we are. _He looked at her, hopefully.

"If…if you want. I want."

She smiled.

"I think I'd like that." She admitted. "I like the new you."

"So do I." Draco admitted.

So he did.


	4. Chapter 4

4- Always 

Hermione woke up early that morning, fretting. Despite what Draco had said, she still didn't like the idea of Professor Snape of all people being angry with her. What if he failed her for the term? What if he failed Draco?

Because it was her fault that Draco was even in this with her. She'd been the one dumb enough to run off and forget they had class. He was then forced to follow her.

But…nobody forced him; Hermione mused as she quietly climbed out of bed and began to pull on jeans and a t-shirt, despite it only being six in the morning. She could catch up on some of the work she'd left to the side. As she brushed her hair, her mind wandered back to Draco. Her new friend. It was really nice of him to follow her – she hadn't deserved to be comforted after she shoved him and screamed at him. Still…now he knew that Ron had broken her heart…that made her feel pathetic.

Downstairs, surprisingly, she found Harry, scratching away at something.

"Morning," she said, setting her bag down next to him and pulling out her Transfiguration textbook and a roll of parchment.

"Oh hey Hermione, are you okay?" Harry looked up at her, concerned and she felt a twinge of guilt – Harry would have been worried about her. She didn't go to Potions, she skipped dinner and it was late by the time she got back to the tower. She hadn't seen him at all.

"Yes," she said, smiling at him. "I am now."

She wondered if Harry would accept her new friendship with Draco, but thought it unlikely. Plus, she didn't know if when Draco said he'd changed that meant his opinion of Harry had changed too. The whole archenemy thing definitely complicated the situation.

"What're you doing?" She asked as she began to write the essay that was due in on Monday. It was a simple essay, she'd have in done in no time…just before her mind hadn't been able to focus. The pain had been too real, too there in her head. Draco…well he'd acted as a sort of plaster for the pain. A healing salve of a kind. And he had said she was beautiful which had to stand for something, because Draco dated some of the most beautiful girls Hermione had ever seen so him thinking she was attractive compared to them was amazing.

"Lines," he muttered, a black and mutinous look settling over his face.

"Oh…" Hermione said, wondering if she should risk asking who for and why.

"Snape." Harry snapped. "Stupid greasy bat. All I did was tell him to shut up about you."

"About me?" Hermione asked, pausing in her hurried essay writing. "What did he say?"

"He…he asked whether you'd decided you were just too clever to come to class…stuff like that. And it made me mad so I yelled at him to shut up. I mean, you aren't like that. I was really worried about you."

"Thanks, Harry." Hermione said, patting his hand. So Snape was angry…brilliant.

Down at breakfast, Hermione couldn't help but sneak an anxious glance at the staff table – but Snape wasn't there so with a sense of relief she took a piece of toast and settled into conversation with Harry about Ginny.

"I just don't know what I should do," Harry said, frowning. "She's only recently broken up with Dean, so maybe she's really upset about it…"

"She isn't." Hermione said.

"Yeah but what if she is?" Harry said, chewing a fingernail. "What if she cries?"

Hermione stared at him for a second and then laughed.

"Harry, Ginny isn't Cho. Not all girls cry all the time, and anyway Cho only cried because she had reason to! Believe me, Ginny has liked you for a very long time and her fling with Dean isn't going to change that. She just never realised you…"

"As…_touching…_as this is," a voice hissed in Hermione's ear, causing her to jump, "I would like a word with you, Miss Granger."

Harry and Hermione turned slowly, to see Snape looming above them, a furious glint in his dark eyes.

"_Now." _He growled. Hermione noticed Draco stood behind Snape, arms crossed across his chest. He caught her eye and smiled a very small smile, but one that she nonetheless saw. _"Look, whatever trouble you get into, I get into too. We're in this together. Friends normally are." _The memory of his words and the companionable afternoon allowed her to get steadily to her feet. Everybody was now craning their necks to stare and wonder what both Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had done to get into trouble.

Professor Snape turned on his heel and stalked out of the hall, trusting that the miscreants would follow. He was furious. He was sure he knew why they had missed his lesson – Draco had at last got his prey and captured Granger. No doubt they had been making use of empty dormitories – for when he had sent a searching spell out for them he had not located them in the castle and the dormitories were the only rooms in the castle that didn't reveal who was in them – an ancient protection charm that not even Dumbledore could remove…although Snape had his suspicions that the romantic old fool hadn't really tried.

Well, that wouldn't do. They wouldn't miss his lessons for such things. They were going to pay on such a level that Granger would never consider spending another moment with Draco at all. Ever. He'd trusted her to be smart enough not to make the same mistake as the other girls, but he had been a fool. Now he had to force her to see that she had to stay away from him. Because there was no way that Snape was going to let her heart be broken.

What he couldn't see, was what was going on behind him. Maybe if he had, he would have been less hasty in his conclusions. Draco reached out and took Hermione's hand gently in his, squeezing it reassuringly. "We'll be ok" he mouthed and she squeezed his hand back. "I wouldn't bet on it." She mouthed back. "I'll take the blame" he mouthed. She raised an eyebrow. Then shook her head. "Together." She mouthed. "Don't argue."

"In." Snape said tersely, unaware of the whispered conversation. They walked past him into his office, not looking repentant enough for Snape's liking. "Sit." They sat. Snape didn't miss Draco move his chair slightly so it was directly next to Granger's…he raised an eyebrow. Snape wasn't stupid and Draco never treated his one night stands with any kind of affection. And the brief comforting look he saw them exchange was…interesting.

He sat down and stared at them.

"Um, sorry Professor." Granger said, biting her lip.

"Uh, yeah, me too sir." Draco said.

Snape just sat there in silence for a few minutes, wanting to make them feel suitably awkward.

"You two better hope I find your excuse good enough," Snape hissed. "Where WERE you?"

"How do you know we were even together, Sir?" Granger piped up, strangely confident in herself. Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Were you not?"

"No." Granger said, at the same time Draco said "yes."

"I mean, yes," said Granger as Draco said "I mean, no." They looked at each other and despite the seriousness of the situation, laughed.

"DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME," Snape thundered, angry that his scary reputation seemed to be failing to get through to the pair. "Where. Were. You?"

"We were outside, sir," Draco answered respectfully.

"Oh I see." Snape replied. "Being outside is a perfectly acceptable reason to skip a lesson. Whose idea was it to go outside?"

"Mine." They said together.

Snape grit his teeth.

"So you both simultaneously decided to go outside?" Snape said. They nodded. Snape was silent again and then decided to change tack. From the looks that were being exchange between the two it seemed Granger was already fond of Draco…which meant he was too late to save her. Unless he was misjudging the situation, which he was beginning to believe was possible. "Draco, your father asked me to contact him if your grades were slipping or if you were in any trouble. He seems to think that he needs to keep a tighter…firmer…hand on you."

Despite appearances, Snape did have a heart and he regretted having to use Lucius against the boy, especially as he watched all colour drain from Draco's face. A look of pure fear filled the boy's eyes…and Hermione saw it.

"And Mr Malfoy, if it were your idea to miss my lesson then I think it prudent to send an owl to.."

"NO!" Hermione shrieked, almost hysterically. Snape raised an eyebrow. The girl was astute. Snape knew that Malfoy would not have told her anything of his father's rather barbaric parenting, yet she had picked up just on Draco's body language that his father being contacted was the worst case scenario.

"Miss Granger, do you have something you wish to say, perhaps less hysterically if you could?" Snape said silkily.

"She doesn't." Malfoy said. "Owl my father, it was my fault. I…I took her bag…ran off with it…" he trailed off weakly. Hermione was sat staring at him in complete shock. She'd seen the pure fear on Draco's face, see all the blood drain away, seen how his hands shook. And yet he was prepared to face something that made him that afraid…to protect her?

"Right then," Snape said, pulling a piece of parchment towards him. Hermione's eyes flicked from Snape to Malfoy and back again. Draco's hand tightened into a fist on his leg, his knuckles white. It was then that Hermione opted for the truth. The whole truth. Embarrassingly.

"Professor, that's not true. Draco found me in the Owlery…I was upset and sort of talking out loud about –no Draco, shut up – how I was upset about…about…about Ron and Lavender. Anyway," she blushed red and hurried on. "Anyway, I realised he was there and I was already upset and I got really mad at him and ran off, leaving all my stuff behind. I ran outside, and I forgot I had Potions. Anyway, Draco followed me, to bring me my stuff and he…he made me feel better. Just by talking and stuff. So don't punish him please Sir, it was all my fault really, he was only trying to be nice and take me my stuff and cheer me up, he didn't _mean _to skip class."

Snape blinked. Interesting. Very interesting. That definitely explained his concerns about Granger being upset…and explained the crying on the fourth floor corridor. But he hadn't believed such kindness to be a trait of Draco's and he surveyed the boy with an odd look on his face.

"Very well," he said. "However, you shall both serve detention with me today for missing the lesson. What on earth would you rather do on a Saturday?" He grinned nastily at them.

"Will we be catching up on what we missed, Professor?" Granger asked eagerly. Snape had to fight not to roll his eyes.

"Amongst other things," Snape nodded. "For now, Miss Granger, you have an essay pending. Go into the classroom and get started on it, I wish to talk to Draco…about something concerning him alone."

Granger looked at Draco, concern in her eyes again. Blasted, interfering girl, thought Snape. Draco smiled slightly at her and motioned to the door with his head. Hermione sat tight though, nibbling her lip.

"Granger, if you do not wish for Mr Malfoy here to be part of my next potion I suggest that you LEAVE."

She jumped at the angry tone and after a slight wrist squeeze from Draco exited the room and sat down with her essay. It wouldn't take her long…but she wondered if Snape knew that and was using it as an excuse to get rid of her. Was he going to tell Draco's father? And why was Draco so afraid? As Hermione started writing she vowed that she _would _find out what was wrong with her friend.

In the office, Snape perused Draco in silence over the desk. Draco sat in the seat and squirmed, unable to read the Professor's expression. Snape looked like he was about to speak a few times but stopped himself.

Finally he did, and his voice was oddly calm. Almost friendly, were Snape ever inclined to be friendly.

"Draco, what is going on in that head of yours?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Uh…" Draco said lamely.

"Is Miss Granger another of your…pass times?" Snape enquired, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Draco answered firmly and slightly miserably. "It's too late for that. Far too late for that."

"How so?" Snape enquired. The boy was being odd.

"Well Sir, my 'pass times' as you put it are just that. Hermione…" he smiled, "Hermione is so much more than that. I think I may love her Professor." Draco looked at Snape and shrugged. "I think I might. I wish I didn't, I mean she's a mudblood and a Gryffindor and a know-it-all and my father will explode but…I don't even care. I'd give anything just to see her smile. And she just thinks we're friends but I'll settle for that, just to be able to look out for her."

"Draco…are you sure about this?" Snape asked, astounded at the depth of feeling he sensed from the boy. He's always found Draco to be arrogant and callous, like his father. "Your father.."

"Professor, my father is wrong about lots of things. I don't…I don't wish to stand by his side any longer. I've been his puppet for too long now and what I feel for Hermione is spurring me to cut the strings by which he controls me. Because she is everything he hates, yet how could anyone hate her?"

"How indeed." Snape conceded. Granger, although insufferably smart, was lovely and kind. He wouldn't deny it. And he wouldn't deny the power she had to change the life of the boy in front of him. "Well….you see to it that you treat her right young man, or you'll have me to deal with."

Draco grinned.

"I'll always be there for her. _Always." _

Snape felt something tug in his chest but ignored it and he sent Draco out to write some lines. Later in the day, he wrote the potion they should have made yesterday on the board and retreated to his desk to mark papers while they brewed. He couldn't help but notice the cheerful, happy tone of Granger's voice and wondered if, given time, her young heart would heal whatever hurt Weasley had caused it and…love Draco the way he loved her.


	5. Chapter 5

5- Bulldozing down walls 

Snape finally released them from their detention in time for dinner with everyone else in the Great Hall. For the last proportion of the day they'd been chopping up Potion's ingredients for Snape, which wasn't particularly arduous and he at least allowed them to talk. Draco had again asked things about the muggle world and Hermione had obliged, but this time she'd asked questions about growing up in the wizarding world as well. They were both learning so much about the different lifestyles…but Hermione didn't ask about Draco's father. She didn't think that he would say anything with Snape in earshot…or if he'd say anything at all. Their friendship was new, and he might not be willing to trust her with something like that.

On the way up to the Great Hall, Draco poked Hermione gently in the side.

"What happened to sharing the blame?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That wasn't really fair, seeing as it was my fault. I just told the truth, you can't blame me for that."

They'd stopped walking and Draco looked down at her face, a confused expression on his face.

"But why? Why would you? You could have got in loads of trouble; you didn't know that Snape was going to be lenient. Normally he isn't."

Hermione shrugged and looked at the floor.

"When he mentioned…your father, you sort of…well, I guess I realised that maybe you didn't want Snape contacting him. So I stepped it."

There was an awkward kind of silence, in which Hermione imagined all kinds of words that could be going through Draco's head. But in the end, he didn't say anything; he just wrapped his arms around her slim frame and hugged her as tight as she could, his chin resting lightly on the top of her head. She hugged him back, sensing that he probably needed some kind of comfort.

"Thank you," Draco whispered. "You told Snape something very personal to help me out, and I won't ever forget that."

Hermione flushed red again, at the idea that Snape knew her innermost feeling…but she knew it was worth the embarrassment, to help her friend.

"If you ever want…to talk about…anything…" Hermione said lamely.

"I know where you are." Draco smiled into her eyes. "But not yet. I'm not ready."

"I understand." Hermione squeezed his hand. "Let's go eat then, before people think that Snape actually dissected us and put us in a potion!"

Nobody gossiped when they walked in together – neither of them had been seen all day and everyone had guessed correctly that Snape had kept them in detention all day.

"See you," Draco whispered as they split up. Harry was sat looking uncomfortable next to Ron and Lavender so Hermione slipped into the seat next to Ginny, who, uncharacteristically was sitting alone.

"Hey," Hermione said when the girl didn't look up.

"Hi," Ginny said half-heartedly, looking up.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked anxiously, putting some vegetable on her plate. Ginny was usually _always _cheerful! Literally, always.

"Harry…Harry asked me to go out with him." Ginny said, picking at a piece of bread roll. Hermione, who knew that Ginny liked Harry and had done for a long time, was bemused. Why was that a problem?

"What's bad about that?" Hermione asked, surveying her friends' sad brown eyes.

"I said no." Ginny replied.

"What…why?" Hermione leaned forwards, wondering if she'd got it all wrong…it was her fault Harry had asked Ginny out – she'd told him to!

"Hermione, _you_ know I like Harry. But…but what if he doesn't? What if he thinks I'm just with him because he's famous? What if he thinks that this is just a rebound because of Dean?"

"Number one, he knows you aren't that shallow. Number two, people's hearts don't work that way. You really liked Dean, true, but you got over him and started to love Harry again. Falling in love again after having your heart broken doesn't mean you're on the rebound, it means that you've found someone who is important enough that they can heal what was broken." Hermione squeezed her friends' hand. "I know Dean hurt you, but you know that you don't love him anymore, because you love Harry, right?"

"Yes," Ginny replied. "But what if he thinks…"

"He won't. If you tell him how you feel. The heart is allowed to change its mind you know."

Ginny smiled.

"I guess."

"Go tell him then." Hermione said.

"What, now?" Ginny looked scared.

"C'mon Gin, you're the bravest girl I know. Go."

Ginny stood up and walked unsteadily over to where Harry was attacking some corn on the cob, while ignoring whatever Lavender was prattling in his ear. Hermione watched as Ginny tapped him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. A second later, he stood and followed her out of the hall. Hermione smiled, and started to eat. It was encouraging to see that broken hearts could be broken – it meant that hers could too, and she certainly felt like she was on the way to being fixed again.

Later that evening, Hermione was sat at a table working when Ron came over. Unable to get up without looking rude, Hermione was forced to say hello.

"Haven't seen you in a while," Ron said. He had a rather black look on his face. Hermione tried not to care why.

"Yeah, whose fault is that?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't feel like playing third wheel, and Lavender doesn't like me."

"She does…she's great isn't she?" Ron asked, beaming at Hermione. Hermione smiled back, trying not to let the sharp pain in her gut show.

"Did you want help with something?" Hermione asked. "Because Lavender just walked in."

Ron glanced around like some kind of desperate puppy and waved at Lavender who came over and sat on his lap. Hermione got up to leave discreetly but Ron's hand shot out and tugged her back into her seat.

"No!" He said. "I need to talk to you."

"Go on then." Hermione said, trying to ignore Lavender running her fingers through Ron's hair.

"Why is Ginny going out with Harry?" He said angrily and Hermione rolled her eyes. She's seen this coming – Ron getting all over-protective about Ginny. "I mean, how could she do that to Harry?"

"What?" Hermione asked, confused. Why was he worried about Harry…and not Ginny?

"Well, she's just broken up with Dean! She's on the rebound and Harry loves her. He'll treat her right, because being in love is the most incredible thing ever." Hermione averted her eyes and Ron started to attempt to eat Lavender. "Anyway, Ginny doesn't love him, so she'll hurt him. She can't love him because she's only just stopped going out with Dean. I want you to make her dump him."

"What?" Hermione stood up and angrily started shoving stuff into her bag. Ron was such a prize idiot. "I'll have you know Ronald, that people can move on quickly, if they have no choice. I think I'd know. Now keep your nose OUT of it because you know nothing about how anyone but you feels, because you're so DAMN wrapped up in yourself."

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the common room, leaving Ron blinking gormlessly behind her. He couldn't help but think how…amazing she looked when she was mad. But then Lavender tugged his face back to hers and he forgot all about Hermione.

Hermione didn't really know where she was going, curfew was an hour away but she didn't want to go back into the Common Room with Ron, and she didn't know where Harry was…but she was sure he didn't want to be disturbed. Chewing on her fingernail absentmindedly, she considered going ot the Library and changed her mind – maybe she would go and see Hagrid.

But her plans were averted when she banged into Draco, on his way out of the Great Hall.

"I was looking for you!" Draco said. "I looked in the Library and Hagrid's and then in there…" Hermione grinned. He'd been looking for her. "Look, I posted your letter the other day and the owl delivered the reply to me, about an hour ago."

He held out the envelope with Hermione's mum's writing on it – in reply to the letter Hermione had forgotten all about.

"Thanks for posting if for me, and bringing the reply," Hermione said with a grin, throwing her arms round Draco. Surprised, he paused for a second before hugging her back. She hadn't hugged him before – it had always been the other way around. Draco tightened his arms around her and smiled. He couldn't ever remember being this happy…before. Before her.

"That's what friends are for." Draco murmured. "You looked kind of annoyed, when you were coming down the stairs." He pulled away and looked down at her. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I guess I do, yeah." Hermione said. "But can we go outside? It's kind of hot in here."

"Sure," said Draco, taking her bag off her.

"Uh…what are you doing?"

"Carrying your bag." Draco replied with a grin and turned and walked towards the doors before she could grab it back. Rolling her eyes at the outdated chivalry, Hermione followed.

They settled down underneath a tree by the lake, sat cross legged with their legs touching. Enough contact to comfort Hermione and enough to drive Draco wild with longing. As she explained the situation and what Ron had said, Draco maintained a neutral face until the point Hermione revealed that Ron had told her to make Ginny dump Harry.

"Who is he to tell you what to do?" Draco growled. "Stupid redhead." Hermione looked up, still surprised by the novelty of Draco sticking up for her. "And he's not just stupid for telling you what to do, he's stupid for letting someone like you slip through his daft fat fingers."

"Someone like me?" Hermione asked. "What do you mean?"

"You're beautiful, you're smart, you're funny and kind, and most of all you're one hundred percent you. You don't change for anyone and I like that. You could have changed yourself to try and get Weasley to like you but you stuck to who you are. You're Hermione and that's why Weasley should have held on when he had the chance."

Hermione patted Draco's knee.

"You're a great friend." She said. He smiled back at her, trying not to let the fact that he wanted her to be more show on his face. She wouldn't love him like he loved her, ever. But he was okay with that. As long as he had her close. As long as she was nearby.

And with that thought, Draco opened his mouth and found himself telling Hermione everything about his home life. Everything he hadn't told anybody before, not even Crabbe and Goyle. Everything he would be ashamed to admit to anyone but her.

How his father got angry at the smallest contradiction of his opinions. How he yelled and screamed and lashed out at anyone he thought was against him…and normally that was Draco. How he told Draco he wasn't good enough at every step, and never ever praised him. How he used to lock him in his room while his friends were over, and if he made a noise then he wouldn't feed him. How Draco had a scar behind his left ear from when his father split his head open when he tried to protect his mother. How if he said anything about anyone who wasn't pure blood, he was made to eat a bar of soap. How when he was nine, his dad had killed his puppy because Draco had talked back.

In one fell swoop, Draco told her everything, because her beautiful face and pure heart had bulldozed down all of his walls.

By the end of it, Hermione was crying softly, clutching Draco's hands in hers.

"Oh Draco," she sobbed. "Now I see, now I see why you were so arrogant, so tough, so horrible. It was because you didn't want anyone to see how much you were hurting…you didn't want anyone to know you had so many walls."

"I…couldn't." Draco said and before he could stop himself (because he would have done, if he could) all of the hurt and anger built up from the sixteen years of torture and he began to cry. He didn't even feel embarrassed by it, because he knew that Hermione wouldn't think him weak.

And he was right. He didn't really anticipate her response though.

She stared in silent shock for a second – she had never seem him let his barriers down like this – but it only took a moment for her to react. She clambered onto his lap (not seeing that it would be in anyway inappropriate for a friend to do that) and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head against her chest. She sat there, rocking him while he cried it all out. All the hurt and the anger and the pain and the fear. Everything. She held him even as his tears left a damp patch on her shirt and even as the air around them grew cold. Then, as his breath started hitching in his throat, she tugged his handkerchief out of her pocket, and dried his eyes with it, gently, carefully.

With her touch and her hug and the way she wiped away all of his tears, the unhealable wounds began to…stitch themselves back together. Without seeing it, she began to put back together what nobody before her had known was broken. With her touch, fears ingrained for years faded away.

"If you want, we don't have to be friends. If it will make things hard for you." She whispered, when she'd dried away all signs of his turmoil. Even as she said the words, a strange sick feeling rose up in her stomach…if he agreed it was for best then she would have to let him go. But could she? Or was she in too deep?

"Hermione, you're the only good thing in my life, don't think I'm letting you walk away." He said, closing his fingers around hers.

"Well then I'm with you, every step of the way." She said. "I'll help you in any way I can. Just think one and a half years from now you can move out and he won't have any power. Or…if it gets really bad, come and stay with me. My parents wouldn't mind if I told them." She squeezed his hands. "I will do whatever I can to stop him hurting you again."

She threw her arms around him again and buried her face into his neck. Her breath was warm against his skin and he struggled not to cry again, but this time because he was so touched by the desperate sincerity in her voice when she promised to protect him.


	6. Chapter 6

6 – Entirely her own

The next morning, Draco woke early and lay listening to Crabbe's snoring. Rolling his eyes, he pulled himself out of bed and dressed in a jumper and jeans – it was Sunday so uniform wasn't required.

In the bathroom, he stared at himself in the mirror.

"What's happened to me?" He whispered, scared by how lost he looked. How different he was. Last night, he'd told Granger everything. Everything about him that he had guarded so fiercely for so long. He'd just told her everything, just like that.

She'd probably told Harry and he's probably told Weasley's sister and then she'd have told all her friends and they'd have told everyone and everyone would know that Draco had spilled his secrets and _cried._He had cried in front of her for god's sake. What was wrong with him?

Everyone would know

Everyone would laugh at him.

_Hermione wouldn't do that._

The voice in the back of his head prodded him. And he knew it was right. The way she'd wiped away his tears proved that .The way she'd cradled his head against her chest proved that. The way she's hugged him when they said goodbye, so fiercely he'd thought he would break in half.

It was like she had lifted a weight off his shoulders. She'd promised him a safe haven, not one that he would use, but the fact that it was there…it just felt good. He'd been trying to cope alone in the world for too long and now he had a friend to lay his burdens on, if he needed to. Talking of burdens, he still had to try and help Hermione get over Ron.

He knew that she was almost there, but occasionally he saw something lurking in her eyes, like last night when she'd been explaining what he'd done to upset her…But how? How do you make a girl stop loving someone? Draco was at a loss when it came to girls feelings…sentimentality and tears and stuff were lost on him.

So, he went into the common room, in search of a girl. Any girl. And he found one, a small third year sat in a corner, bent over a very long essay. He didn't know her name…but that didn't matter. He would have an awkward conversation with a random girl if it meant he could help Hermione.

He sat down and she looked up with a frown on her face.

"If you want to sleep with me, I'm too young." She snapped and went back to her writing.

Draco flushed. Did he really mess so many girls around? He guessed he did…but not anymore. That was in the past now, and someone he never wanted to be again. He'd done it because the girls had made him feel wanted…but it wasn't the kind of long lasting want that he sought…that he needed and hoped that he'd found. Even if the girl in question only wanted him as a friend.

"Um, no" He coughed. "I was wondering…uh…"

"Clarissa." She filled in, dipping her quill absentmindedly in her inkwell.

"Right, yeah. Anyway, have you ever had a boyfriend?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Where is this going?" She snapped. "I've got to finish this letter."

"Um, well I know this girl. And she's just…well this boy she liked is going out with someone else. And uh I want to make her feel better. So…if you just got your heart broken, how could someone make you feel better?"

Clarissa sat in silence for a moment or too, surprised. Draco had a reputation for being a player, and caring about nothing but the physical side of a relationship. Yet here he was, looking kind of unsure of himself, asking how he could make a girl feel better. Astounded, she formulated a reply in her head.

"Well, yes, I went out with Tom Jones earlier this year and he cheated on me with Rhiane. And it hurt. But I got over it, mainly because of my best friend. She distracted me and kept me busy. I stopped doing my homework for a while and she made me catch up. And she used to make me go for walks when I just wanted to sit around and mope. And she'd buy me little presents sometimes, just cause. And hugs help too. And reminding them that they're beautiful even if the boy that hurt them didn't…that helps. Just be there and be a friend." She smiled. "Who's the girl?"

"Uh…um…you don't know her." Draco lied. Everyone knew who Hermione Granger was…she hung out with Harry and got into all the same dangerous stuff as he did. "Well…" he had a strange intuition that Hermione would be up early. "I'm going to go look for her…thanks, Clarissa."

"Anytime," Clarissa mumbled and watched him go, a strange smile on her face.

Draco took the dungeon steps two and a time, his intuition telling him that Granger was the type of girl to go for a morning walk. He walked past Weasley's sister in an alcove with Potter, sat on his lap as he read her Charms book to her. As ill as it made Draco feel to admit it, Potter seemed like a good boyfriend. Okay, he was officially going insane now…falling in love with Granger was bad enough but actually half-compliment Potter? Ugh.

He was right.

He spotted a small figure, standing by the edge of the lake, hands stuck firmly in her coat pockets, brown erratic curls blowing in the wind. He crossed the lawn between them in seconds and snuck up behind her, wrapping his hands around her eyes. Hermione felt at the hands with hers mittens.

"Draco." She guessed and he sighed, removing his hands.

"How'd you know?" He asked.

"You've got really knobbly knuckles." She replied, gazing out at the lake.

"I've got _what?_" Draco said incredulously.

"Knobbly knuckles."

"I don't really know…" she said. "I mean, I usually hang out with Harry at weekends. But he's kind of…well, caught up right now. And Parvati has gone home because her mum is ill so that's pretty much everyone I like out of the picture."

Draco stood in front of her and raised an eyebrow.

"What about me?" he asked, sticking out his bottom lip.

"Well, _obviously _I like you." Hermione said. "But you've got your friends…they'll want to spend time with you."

"Yes, probably, but you're my friend too. And if you have no plans…maybe I should make some?"

"Oh yeah?" Hermione said, grinning at him.

"Yeah. It's not that fun though…" he poked her lightly in the ribs. "Someone hasn't been doing her homework and I think it's time she caught up…" Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"I guess. The Library is just so boring though and there's nobody to talk to and I get bored…"

"Well, why don't we find an empty classroom and I can help you, that way you'll get done quicker and we can have a picnic afterwards!"

"A picnic?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, my mum always sends me loads of food by owl…I don't eat it all and she sent me some more yesterday. We can have a picnic out here if you want. As a treat for finishing all your homework."

"I'd love that," Hermione said, beaming at Draco.

Ten minutes later, Hermione was scribbling away at a Transfiguration essay, while Draco sat with the textbook so when she needed to check something, he could find it quickly. As she began writing a paragraph about the different ways of transfiguring pencils, a conversation struck up about music of all things.

"How can you _not _like Paramore?" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow. "They're so good.

"No they aren't…they're too…uh…"

"You've never heard anything by Paramore have you?"

"Well…"

"What do you listen to then?" Hermione asked. "And why can't you turn a pencil into a pen easily?" Draco's eyes scanned the book, quickly finding the information Hermione was after.

"Lead is too dense to convert into liquid ink. And I listen to stuff like the Red Hot Cauldrons and Bezoar Stone and Witches Aloud and…"

"Wizard music!" Hermione declared. "I've never heard wizard music…"

"Just as I've never heard Muggle music." He replied. "You done? Right, Charms next."

They passed a pleasant few hours in the empty classroom, getting Hermione's pile of homework completed. Draco, surprisingly, found that helping with homework he'd already done wasn't nearly as boring as he envisaged…in fact it wasn't boring at all. Every time his mind began to wander, Hermione would say something interesting, or she'd smile slightly as she wrote, or shift slightly so her amazing scent washed over him. She was captivating – that was the only word for her.

Once it was all done, they split briefly for Hermione to put her bag of completed homework away and for Draco to grab all of the food his mother insisted on sending him. He normally gave it to Crabbe and Goyle…but now he had a better use. He grabbed the package from under his bed and undid the string.

He rolled his eyes at all the food – honestly did his mum not think they fed the students at Hogwarts? He pulled out his schoolbag and emptied the stuff onto his bed, before selecting the food more appropriate for a dinnertime picnic. He packed a big pork pie, a chocolate cake, a box of 'immortal strawberries', a large bottle of Butterbeer, a share bag of crisps, a couple of apples and some toffees. Then, he pulled his Slytherin comforter off the end of his bed and transfigured it into a traditional red and white checked picnic rug, adding that to the bag, before heading up to the Gryffindor common room to meet Hermione.

Hermione had dumped her bag of stuff on her bed and was on her way down the stairs when she bumped into Lavender.

"Oh, hey Hermione," Lavender said, with a kind of nasty smile.

"Hi…"

"I just wanted to say, my WonWon is not wrapped up in himself, you evil cow."

"Evil..? Hey, you can't just call people stuff like that!" Hermione objected.

"Yes I can. You said WonWon was wrapped up in himself." Lavender said firmly, crossing her arms.

"Well you know what Lavender?" Hermione said. "I don't care what you think about me at all, so back off."

"Only if you leave WonWon alone." Lavender countered. "And I mean it. I don't want you talking to him."

Hermione saw a flash of insecurity in the girls eyes…and she nearly played on it. But she decided to walk away, walk away because it wasn't Lavender's fault that Ron loved her instead of Hermione. Besides…the heartbreak was less fresh now. It was numbed by the joy of new friendship.

"Lavender," Hermione said kindly. "He loves you. There's no competition." She patted Lavender's arm and walked off, surprised at herself. And surprised when the sharp pain in her gut that she associated with Ron didn't happen. She was fine. _She was fine. _

Hermione met Draco outside the Gryffindor common room, and unable to contain herself, threw her arms around him.

"Do you want to know what I just did?" She breathed excitedly.

"Sure, I do." Draco said, grinning at her exuberance.

"I just spoke to Lavender and I just told her that Ron loved her and she didn't need to worry about competition from me."

"Ok…" Draco pulled back from the hug. "Why does that make you happy?"

"Because it didn't hurt!" Hermione sang happily. "Because Ron loves Lavender and that's totally okay with me!" Hermione grinned and Draco saw with a wave of elation that any shadows of love for Weasley had faded away.

The heart just needs time. Time to heal, and stitch itself back together. Time to get over what happened and forget. And anyone can get better, in any time their heart chooses to take.

Hermione was lucky that he heart had fixed itself quickly.

Or maybe, just maybe, without her realising it…someone had fixed it for her.

Hermione was like an excitable puppy all the way through the picnic, eating the food Draco had brought, in between excitable babbling about just about anything that crossed her mind. When they'd finished eating, Draco lay down on the picnic mat, and was surprised when Hermione lay down next to him.

"Let's stargaze." She demanded. "Look, there's the Sun."

Draco chuckled to himself and stuck his hand in his pocket, drawing out his iWizard.

"Here," he handed her one of the earphones and she sat up slightly to press into her ear. Her perfectly shaped ear. He selected his favourite album from the Red Hot Cauldrons and hit play, sticking the other headphone in his ear. The Red Hot Cauldrons were surprisingly good, Hermione discovered. Their music was soft with beautiful melodies and the lyrics were extremely meaningful. The music was very lulling though and they were both full of food and drink…and before Draco realised what was happening, Hermione had fallen asleep, with her face pressed against his chest. Absentmindedly he watched her sleeping, her perfect face blissfully happy as she entered a dream world that was entirely her own.

Draco envied her dreams…he wanted to be entirely her own…but then again he already was. She just didn't know it yet.

Could he tell her? What if he did? What if she liked him too?

But he knew that this was a wild dream, and one that was not achievable. He wasn't the kind of guy that girls fell in love with…lusted after, yes, stalked because of his family connections, yes….but fell in love with? No. As she shifted in her sleep, he knew that he was going to settle for friendship because her being his friend was a gift more precious than anything he could imagine.

He intended to wake her up about twenty minutes before curfew, so they could get back in the castle in time and now be caught out of bed after hours…but watching her sleep made him so peaceful that he drifted off too.

Until..

"Draco..Draco…"

Draco woke with a start, to find Hermione still in his arms, saying his name. It was dark and cold. And hours after curfew.

"Yeah?" he whispered, about to sit up. But then he realised that she was asleep.

"Draco," she whispered again, turning against his chest with a smile. "Draco."

She was dreaming about him. Hermione Granger was dreaming about him. Draco's face was lit up with ecstasy as he sat up slightly, but not enough to tip Hermione off him, and shrugged out of his jacket. He transfigured it into a thick, woollen blanket and tucked it over both of them. He'd let Hermione sleep…leave her alone with her world of dreams…her world of dreams that included him.

_Hermione was dreaming. She knew that much. Because she was reaching out for Draco and he kept stepping further and further away, shaking his head._

"_No, you don't need me." He said, his eyes sparkling._

"_Draco," she whispered. "Draco."_

"_No." _

"_Draco." The closer she seemed to get to him ,the smaller he got. She couldn't grab hold of him. _

"_Go away, Hermione. You don't need me."_

"_Draco, I do," she whispered, tears filling her eyes as he finally turned around and left her stood there, in a strange empty darkness all alone. He'd left her , left her to herself, with no moorings and nothing solid to hold onto. She needed him. She needed him so so much. The dream Hermione dissolved away, as the real one woke with a start._

Hermione opened her eyes to the early morning light and the sound of birds happily singing. She looked up and saw that she was lying on Draco's chest, and he was asleep. They were covered in a thick blanket, that she deduced had once been his coat, as it still had the zip on it. She smiled to herself as she snuggled back down against his chest. This Draco wouldn't leave her alone in the dark.

It was only later, long after he'd woken and they'd snuck back into the castle, that Hermione gave thought to her dream.

What had it meant? What could it have meant?

Why did she feel like the idea of Draco leaving her would break her into thousands of pieces?


	7. Chapter 7

7) New Friends

The next day, Draco was corned by Snape at the Slytherin table at lunchtime. Hermione watched anxiously as he hauled Draco outside…and presumed it was something to do with being out after curfew. Her stomach twisted in worry as she glanced up at the teachers table, wondering if Professor McGonagall had noticed her absence.

Outside, Snape was furiously glaring at Draco.

"Where were you?" He demanded angrily. "The point of a curfew, Mr Malfoy, is that the teachers know where all of the students are in case of emergency. I did not know where you were. How _dare _you not return to the dormitory? Where were you and _who were you with?_" He hissed.

Draco, being fairly bright, figured it was best not to get Hermione involved as far as possible.

"I was outside…just uh, thinking. And then I fell asleep." Draco lied lamely.

"You were outside. Thinking. And then you fell asleep." Snape repeated, a familiar sneer on his face.

"Yes." Draco replied.

"If I find out you were lying and you were spending your time with Miss Granger…"

"Are you suggesting I'm lying?" Draco said, pretending to be outraged. "My father will hear about this!" He added, for good measure. Maybe that would be more believable, if he used his old favourite phrase. "It's not my fault I fell asleep! You can't persecute me for being tired!"

Snape frowned at the boy and shook his head.

"Very well, you wait here. I will corroborate with Professor McGonagall on the whereabouts of Miss Granger last night and it all is as it should be, I will refrain putting you in detention. Providing you go to bed at a reasonable time…and I _will _be checking."

Draco leant against the cold stone wall and groaned as Snape swept back into the Great Hall…now he was going to get caught in a lie. Brilliant. He knew that Snape didn't take lightly to liars…he was likely to be in detention for the rest of the year…greatly restricting anytime he could spend with Hermione.

Snape swept up to the teachers table.

"Professor McGonagall, a word if you please."

"Of course, what is it my dear?" She asked, stepping away from the table.

"Where was Miss Granger last night?" Snape snapped.

"What? In her dormitory, I presume."

"Are you sure? I would be most obliged if you would verify this somehow." Snape replied coolly. Clearly McGonagall didn't check in on her students as he did with his. Typical Gryffindor.

"If you insist," she replied, shaking her head at the man and his strange interest in Granger recently. She was sure that Hermione must have annoyed him and he was looking for anyway to get her into trouble. "Miss Brown!"

Lavender got up from where she was sat with Ron and Hermione, who was a little further down the table with Ginny and Harry, looked up anxiously as she saw Lavender head towards McGonagall and Snape.

She strained to hear what they were saying.

"Miss Brown, was Miss Granger in the dormitory last night?" Snape enquired sceptically.

Hermione's insides froze. Draco had obviously lied to protect her and now she was going to get found out and he was going to get in so much trouble. _What if Snape told Lucius? _Hermione was just about to get up to defend Draco, to plead his case, to scream and shout that Snape couldn't tell his dad….when Lavender Brown smiled sweetly as Professor Snape and said

"Yes, sir. Why on earth would she not be? It's where she sleeps, sir. In fact, she was the first in there. She said goodnight to me at about ten o'clock, sir, and it was most definitely her."

Snape glared before turning on his heel and storming away. As Lavender came back to the table she saw Hermione's eyes on her and she smiled slightly before sitting in her place.

Shocked, Hermione smiled back.

Maybe she'd been wrong about Lavender Brown.

Draco sauntered back into the Great Hall a moment later, a rather surprised, shell-shocked look on his face. He sat back down at the Slytherin table and raised a confused eyebrow at Hermione who mouthed back 'later'.

"So where were you last night?" Goyle asked, stuffing three sandwiches in his mouth at once.

"I fell asleep outside," Draco replied, disgusted.

"Huh, you missed Goyle trying to hit on Millie," Crabbe said with a chuckle.

"He did what?" Draco smirked, trying to imagine that. "What did she do?"

"Broke his nose," Crabbe replied delightedly. "He had to go see Pomfrey and Snape said it was his own fault for preying on innocent girls."

"Ha." Draco said, reaching for a sandwich.

"Why is that mudblood looking over here?" Goyle muttered, glaring at Hermione

"Who?" Crabbe asked. He had bad eyesight.

"Granger." Goyle spat like it was a bad word. "Muggles should all be shot. Filthy muggleborn bitch."

"DON'T CALL HER THAT," Draco yelled, shoving himself to his feet, at the same time Michael Grogry, a boy in their year that he didn't really speak to, leapt across the table and punched Goyle straight in the face. Goyle hit back and before he knew what was happening, Draco had joined Michael (a boy he didn't know) in an all-out brawl against his only two friends.

Ten minutes later, the four boys were escorted up to the Hospital Wing. Draco had a split lip, Goyle's nose was re-broken, Michael was limping and Crabbe had a lump forming on his forehead. While Pomfrey saw to Goyle and Crabbe first, on Snape's instruction, Draco looked at Michael.

"Hey," he said softly.

Michael didn't really speak to the Slytherins – he was friends with a group of Hufflepuffs so spent most of his time with them. In lessons he sat alone.

"You…you were sticking up for Hermione." Michael said, looking confused. "You're a Malfoy. You're all about purity. You hate muggles. All of you Slytherins do."

Draco leant his head against the wall, his lip starting to throb…and the thought of having to face their Head of House not a pleasant one.

"I used to hate muggles. I used to be all about purity." Draco said softly, the memory of his old arrogant self still unfortunately present.

"What changed?" Michael pressed, looking interested. He was shunned by the Slytherins and ignored because he wasn't like them. Because he wasn't pure-blood and he didn't have anything against muggles. Was this a chance for him to find someone in his house who could like him? As he looked, he saw a strange, dreamy look on Malfoy's face that he had never ever seen the boy pull before.

"I got to know Granger," he replied. "And all that she is."

"What is she?"

"She's beautiful. She's kind. She's smart and funny and caring. She doesn't judge anyone. She has the most amazing smile. And…she's muggleborn. So how can I hate muggles, when two of them produced the most amazing thing in my world?"

They were interrupted at that point my Madam Pomfrey who glared at them as she began to heal them.

"Attacking your friends!" She scolded. "Unacceptable."

"We were sticking up for Hermione Granger, Madam Pomfrey." Offered Michael quietly. "They were…saying stuff about her being muggleborn, you know."

Madam Pomfrey's eyes softened and she healed them more gently after that admission.

"Well, you four had better go to see Professor Snape, he's waiting for you." She said once everyone was patched up. She patted Draco and Michael lightly on the shoulders while glaring at Crabbe and Goyle.

Draco finally got a chance to talk to Michael that evening, when they were released from gutting rats for Snape. They both sensed that things were different in the Slytherin friendship groups now. When they got back to the common room they all had showers, but when Crabbe and Goyle headed to their usual sofa, instead of following them and trying to repair the damage he'd done, he followed Michael to a quiet table in the corner.

Michael smiled slightly.

"My mum is a muggle," he offered by way of explaining the afternoon's events.

"I never knew that," Draco replied, surprised.

"It's not something I was going to advertise in here…when I was placed in Slytherin I was gutted. I knew I would never fit in…because I don't have muggles and I never will. My mum is the most important woman on this planet to me and to hate her just because she isn't a witch makes no sense to me."

They sat in silent contemplation for a moment, before Michael spoke again.

"So Hermione…are you and her…like you know?"

"No." Draco said, downcast. "No we aren't."

"How come?"

"She doesn't like me like that. Not like I like her. Not like I love her."

"How do you know?" Michael asked. "Have you asked her?"

"No…but I just know. She's…she's…well I'm not the type of guy girls fall in love with." He sighed.

"Are you joking?" Michael sniggered. "The girls flock to you."

"Lust." Draco replied sadly, to which his new fried had no reply.

The next day, Draco sat with Michael in lessons and fund that he quite liked the friendly half-blood…and Michael liked him too. The only thing he found himself worrying about was that he would either not have enough time to spend with Hermione, or Michael would get offended by him spending time with Hermione…but he needed have worried.

After dinner, Michael gestured to the Hufflepuff table.

"I'm gonna go and hang out in the Puff's common room. Wanna come or...uh…I think someone has other ideas."

Draco saw Hermione hovering by the door and smiled at her, waving goodbye to Michael.

"Hey," he said with a goofy smile.

"Evening." Hermione smiled up at him, her beautiful face so happy.

They went to the Library, to do some homework, and were soon encompassed in a small cosy corner, lit only by the light of a single lamp, far away from the ears of Madam Pince.

"I heard from Harry that you and Michael attacked Crabbe and Goyle because of me," Hermione said nonchalantly as she began to write an essay. The back of her hand brushed against Draco's and he struggled not to hold onto it.

"Well I did," Draco said. "Michael started it though – he was protecting his mum."

Hermione mulled that over for a moment, a curl falling over her face slightly. Without thinking, Draco tucked the errant curl behind her ear.

_He should probably stop touching her casually. It would just hurt more in the long run. _

"And why were you protecting me?" She asked, nibbling on her lip.

He shrugged. _Because I'm madly in love with you. Because you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. Because when I shut my eyes, all I can see is your face. _

"You're my friend Hermione. I will protect you forever."

She smiled and patted his hand, before turning back to her work. When the bell rang out for ten minutes to curfew, they packed up their stuff and Draco took her bag, to carry back to the tower for her, ignoring her protests that she could do it herself. Outside the portrait hole, Draco handed it back. He was surprised when she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Thankyou for sticking up for me," she mumbled as his hands tightly held her.

"Anytime," he replied softly, kissing the top of her head. He froze when he realised that he may have gone too far…did friends kiss each other on the head? Had he over stepped a line? Would she freak out? But she just carried on hugging him, until the Fat Lady coughed grumpily.

"Night," she grinned at him.

"Night," he echoed and watched as she disappeared from view.

Hermione went straight up to the girls dormitory, with a brief goodnight to Harry and Ginny who were sat by the fire, Harry reading to Ginny as he lay with her head in his lap. Hermione felt a wave of yearning for someone to do that for her…to hold her and read to her by the fire and to love her in the limitless way that Harry loved Ginny.

Lavender was in the girls dorm, with a recently returned Parvati.

"Hey," Hermione said tentatively and both girls smiled at her. She undressed quickly and sat on the end of her bed. "Is your mum okay, Parvati?" She asked, smoothing down her bedcovers and beginning to brush her hair.

"Yeah, she's fine now," Parvati smiled. "Now…the question is what is going on with you and Draco, huh?"

"M…me and Draco?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yeah," Lavender said, moving to sit on Hermione's bed next to her. Hermione reminded herself that none of it was Lavender's fault, so it would be a bad idea to push Lavender onto the floor. "I mean, you guys used to hate each other."

"You honestly did," Parvati said, wandering over with a box of chocolate frogs, also settling herself on Hermione's bad. Hermione tried not to show that she minded this takeover of her bed. Parvati chucked her a chocolate frog, appeasing her slightly.

"Yeah…well things change." Hermione shrugged.

"Where you with him last night?" Lavender said eagerly.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "We were listening to music and just sort of fell asleep."

"Do you like him?" Lavender asked, leaning forwards.

"Yes, he's a great friend." Hermione replied, smiling softly. Both girls rolled their eyes.

"No as in _like _like him," Lavender said. "Like Parvati likes Dean…I mean…uh!" Parvati blushed bright red and elbowed her friend in the side.

"Oh…" Hermione said, also blushing. "No! No..no. He's a friend. We're just friends. I mean this is _Draco._ He goes out with loads of really beautiful girls. There is no way he'd see me as girlfriend material."

"But you _are _pretty, Hermione." Lavender said with a grin. "I wish I was as pretty as you." Hermione frowned. It hadn't been that long ago that she had been wishing she looked like Lavender…but now Ron…well Ron was happy with Lavender. And Lavender didn't seem that bad at all. It was time to let go and move on…_move on. _Had she already?

Lying in bed that night, once the others had relinquished control of her bed, Hermione struggled to sleep.

_But you are pretty Hermione…you're my friend Hermione, I will protect you forever…he'd kissed her…and she couldn't ignore the feeling that rush through her when he had…and her dream…being afraid to be without him, needing him. Was that friendship? Or was it something more? _

But she'd sworn not to make the same mistakes again.

The same mistakes that she'd made with Ron.

The mistake of falling in love with someone that could never love you back.

As she pulled her covers around herself, Hermione wondered if it was too late. Had she already made the mistake?

She didn't think she could survive being broken again.

Because this time round there would be nobody to put her back together again, like he had.


	8. Chapter 8

8) Losing him

Nothing happened for weeks. Hermione pushed aside what Lavender and Parvati had said…because it couldn't mean anything. Even if she had wanted anything to happen she knew that it wouldn't and couldn't. He was handsome and smart and he was a pureblood – he wouldn't ever consider _dating _her, and Hermione could only begin to imagine the dangers of his father finding out something like that.

They just hung out like they had before, two friends, Hermione pretending like she didn't now have other thoughts on her mind. Trying not to let her mind run away whenever he touched her, or tucked her hair behind her ear, or hugged her goodnight.

They sat by each other in all lessons that Slytherin shared with Gryffindor and they spent most evenings together or with Michael.

One warm day, they were sat outside, like the rest of the school it seemed. They were quite near to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a suitable distance away from the rest of the student body. Hermione could just make out Harry and Ginny across the other side of the lake, Ginny sitting on Harry as they had a private conversation. She wondered if she sat on…_no. _She slammed her internal brakes on quickly. What was wrong with her?

"Don't the other Slytherins find it strange that you're hanging out with me?" Hermione asked as she proof-read Draco's Potions essay. "And here, it's half a Gurdyroot, if you used a whole one it would probably explode."

Draco pulled the essay towards him and corrected his essay before handing it back. His hand brushed against hers and he struggled against the longing he felt.

"Well they did at first I suppose…" Draco replied absentmindedly, watching her brown eyes scanning over the paper. The sky illuminated her skin in the most appealing way. "But I didn't have many friends…more followers…so I haven't lost anything. I mean I had two friends before all of this and I have two now…just two better ones. And better looking ones," Draco snorted.

Hermione tried not to blush…he was just insulting Crabbe and Goyle…not complimenting her. She tried to smile.

Things carried on like this. They hung out, Hermione held her feelings and thoughts back so they couldn't develop into anything, and Draco tried to fight his urges to just kiss her. Snape carried on watching them, but seeing nothing got bored and went back to tormenting first years to the best of his ability. McGonagall, wondering where Snape's concerns about Granger had come from, watched her top pupil…but if anything she thought that Granger became happier as time went by…he grades remained high, she had colour in her cheeks, she laughed a lot – there was nothing to worry about as far at the teachers were concerned about.

And the truth was, Hermione _was _happy. The hurt from Ron had faded away to make way for her friendship with Draco. And Hermione had such a good control over her own mind now that there was no way she'd allow herself to fall in love again.

Or so she thought.

The Christmas Ball was announced by Dumbledore at the end of one evening meal. It would happen on the last evening that everyone was still in school – there would be a special feast, music, dancing and general party fun. Dumbledore beamed around happily and the students all look enthused.

That night was a hive of activity as boys ran around trying to secure dates to the Ball…because nobody wanted to dance on their own.

Hermione sat despondently by the fire with Ginny and Harry. Ginny was talking about what she would wear and Harry was offering surprisingly helpful advice. Hermione was reading and trying to ignore delighted squeals of over-excited girls. Stupid Dumbledore and Christmas cheer. Neville came bounding over, a massive smile on his face.

"Ginny! Ginny! I did it! She said yes! Oh Ginny, I'm going out with Luna and we're going to go to the Christmas ball and Ginny, Ginny, she kissed me Ginny, she kissed me!"

Ginny and Harry set about congratulating Neville on his new relationship while Hermione tried not to cry. Why was it that everyone but her was getting to be happy? Getting to fall in love without it hurting? Why was it that everyone else got to fall in love with someone that would love her back?

She shut her book and walked off, unnoticed by her happy friends. In the girls dormitory she undressed and climbed into bed and for the first time since Draco cried herself to sleep. She realised it was a mistake in the morning when she woke up and looked in the mirror and saw that her eyes were red and puffy.

And to make things worse she had Potions first.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked softly as he began slicing _half _a Gurdyroot.

"Nothing." Hermione replied tensely, pulling her bushy hair into a ponytail as she added three drops of bat blood to her pale green, simmering liquid.

"By now you're potion should be pale green…" Snape declared to the class. "Goo, Miss Granger. Mr Draco you are about five minutes behind, stop chatting and get to work."

Draco hurried up.

"So?" he whispered as he chopped his ingredients double time, keeping an eye of Snape who was berating Neville for adding too much Gurdyroot.

"So what?" she whispered back, stirring the potion ten times clockwise, watching sharply as it turned from green to blue, as expected.

"What's the matter? And don't say nothing, I know you've been crying!"

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes as she sprinkled some powdered bezoar into her cauldron.

"It's just…this stupid Christmas ball." Hermione admitted. "It's going to be rubbish to have to sit and watch all these loved up couples dancing."

"But they're not going to all be loved up couple," he said. "I mean Michael is taking Hannah Abbott to the Ball as his date, and they don't even fancy each other. They're just going for a laugh."

"Yes," Hermione said tersely, scanning the page of his textbook as she counted to two minutes in her head. "But I don't have anyone to go with either way."

"Whataboutme?" Draco said quickly, his throat constricting. Would she realise that for him the lines were blurred? Would she realise that he didn't want to just go for a laugh? That he wanted to dance with her, and her alone?

"Hmm?" she asked, as she moved onto chopping up a lizard spleen, an adorable look of disgust on her face.

"Well, we could go." Draco said, more slowly as he stirred his potion. His hands were shaking and he tried to steady them. "For a laugh."

Hermione smiled at him.

"But I can't dance…" she said.

"I can." Draco said. "I'll show you. I'm sure you'll pick it up. You pick everything up."

At the end of the lesson, Draco delivered his named vial of potion to Snape after Hermione had delivered him her sparkling red one and received a curt nod. Draco's wasn't red or sparkling. It was congealed and bogey coloured. Snape stared at Draco down his hooked nose and his eyebrow flew up into his nest of greasy hair.

"Mr Malfoy, if you do not wish to fail this class I do suggest that you keep your eye…on your potion…rather than elsewhere. Have I made myself clear?"

"Uh, y..yes Sir." Draco muttered, blushing. "Sorry."

"You will receive a zero for today's effort. If you wish to save your grade I suggest you meet me here tonight, at 7o'clock to rebrew."

"Yes sir."

He didn't see Hermione till the next day and when he asked, she confirmed that she would accompany him to the Christmas Ball. He hurried off to his next lesson, a smile on his face the scared the small first years who had heard of his reputation. They thought that meant he was up to something. Like killing them and making soup out of their bones.

The two weeks until the Ball passed both too quickly and too slowly. Too quickly because they had so much work to do and not enough time to do it in…yet too slowly because Draco was counting down the days before he could hold Hermione in his arms and have a valid excuse for doing so. Each evening was spent in the Library bent over their books late into the night, trying to keep afloat. Harry was often nearby, helping Ginny with her OWL work, and to Hermione's surprise Harry and Draco occasionally exchanged civil conversation. It was very forced and stilted but…it was a start. It was something.

There was a strategically placed Hogsmeade weekend the week before the ball, and predictably literally everyone girl from third year upwards was out shopping for a dress – the boys were mostly fine, they all had dress robes. Draco had opted to stay at the castle as he had dress robes and didn't want to fall behind any more than he already had. Before she left however, he prised Hermione's Charms essays from her to check, because it was a topic she'd been struggling with. She didn't want to ask for help though, so Draco took the only course of action that would get her a better grade – insisting on helping. She relinquished them with an eye-roll but hugged him goodbye as enthusiastically as ever. As she hurried to catch up to Ginny, he shook his head and wondered…wondered why she couldn't see that he was so in love with her. Wasn't it obvious?

"So, you and Draco huh?" Ginny said, linking arms with Hermione as they began the walk to the small village.

"Well, we're just going for a laugh." Hermione said. "You know as friends. Like Hannah and Michael."

"Ah." Ginny said, and said no more…but she was concerned. Concerned that maybe Hermione was ignoring her true feelings because of her unlucky brush with Ron. Luckily time had turned that flame to embers…but had the experience caused Hermione to wish to quash any future flames before they had the time to grow?

Ginny bought a dark green dress, which fit snugly around her curves, and made her skin luminous. After much dithering and indecision Ginny finally persuaded Hermione to buy a red dress, brushing aside her protestations that it was too eye-catching, too short, too bright and too low cut. It had straps that had sequins sewn on them and the top part clung to her body, while the skirt stuck out slightly like a ballerina's dress, but less poofy and more glamorous. Hermione begrudgingly admitted that she didn't look that bad in it….but she still knew she wouldn't be on par with the girls Draco should have been taking in her place had he not felt sorry for her.

Finally, the morning of the Christmas Ball dawned. People were preoccupied in lessons all day, finalising outfit plans and plans to ensnare and seduce fellow students during the course of the evening. When they were finally let out, everyone rushed to their dorms to prepare for an evening of jollities.

Two hours later, the Ball began. Hermione decended the stairs to the entrance hall with Ginny by her side. They discovered Draco and Harry stood side by side making awkward conversation while they waited for their dates.

When Harry spotted Ginny his mouth fell open and then he shut it again and the nblushed and rushed forwards.

"My god, you're beautiful," he murmured with awe in his voice as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. Hermione looked away.

"Hermione…" Draco said, walking around the kissing couple. "You…wow."

"You like it?" She asked, fiddling with the poofy skirt.

"You are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Draco said, with a smile. Hermione blushed to match her dress.

"You don't look too bad yourself…" acknowledged Hermione, her eyes scanning the simple black dress robes Draco wore, accentuating his tall and muscular frame. He looked very handsome and sophisticated.

The first part of the Christmas Ball was the meal and to Draco's…distaste…he found himself sat at a table with Potter, Ginny, Weasley (who he still wanted to throttle), Pinkfluffyblondebimbo, Neville and his date, a smiley blonde Ravenclaw who surveyed Draco is a way that made him feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, Hannah and Michael were there too and sat between him and Potter.

There was a proper Christmas dinner with all of the trimmings and sixth and seventh years were even allowed a small glass of wine. Not being much of a drinker, the wine went straight to Hermione's head and she was rather giggly. While they were eating, the blonde Ravenclaw continued to look at Draco.

"What is it?" He asked her eventually and she smiled at him.

"Oh," she said. "I just sense a change in energy around you…maybe you ate some Mistletoe. The nargles feed on it you see…and they sort of poison it…but in a good way. It makes people nicer. Less evil. My daddy said if it had been used on You-Know-Who then everything would have been fine. Maybe he was right, because it worked on you." She smiled at him, happily.

"Er…yeees. I may have…accidentally…eaten mistletoe?" Draco agreed and she nodded and went back to her plate. Hermione was struggling not to laugh as she covered her face with a napkin.

After pudding (a choice of giant chocolate log, Christmas pudding, mince pies or all of the above) soft music began to play and the tables vanished. People with dates took to the floor, while people without dates wandered desolately round the edges, searching for anyone who might be willing to slow dance with them. Harry and Ginny had completely giving up on slow dancing, as neither of them knew how, and were simply spinning round in circles in fits of laughter, trying not to bang into people. Lavender and Ron were just swaying in a corner and Draco was manoeuvring Hermione through the other dancers with well-practised ease.

Eventually, Hermione's shoes started to hurt a bit and they retreated to the edges to rest. She finished her glass of wine and became giggly once more, much to Draco's amusement.

They were sat on two chairs in one of the corners and Hermione had her legs on top of Draco's so she could discreetly massage her sore feet. Draco was trying to focus on anything but the warmth and weight of her legs on top of him. When she was satisfied with her feet, she leant back against her chair but seemed too tipsy to move her legs…not that Draco was complaining. It was starting to get late…many of the younger years had disappeared off to bed and now it was mainly sixth and seven years still dancing…although some fifth years like Ginny and Luna remained with their dates.

"So…that Ravenclaw.." Draco began.

"Luna!" Hermione said with a tipsy giggle. "She's weeeeeird!"

"Uh, yes, but um…is she right about me being nicer?" Draco asked.

Hermione warm brown eyes met his and she smiled a big, wide, warm, open smile. Her eyes glittered.

"Oh yes," she whispered. "You're lovely."

It was impossible for anyone who saw what happened to say who moved first. Who reached for the other first, whose lips moved first. Hermione was sure it was her…the alcohol had removed her inhibitions and all the brakes she had slammed on her desires…and Draco's face was so close to hers and so handsome and he was so nice…so she reached out, she took his face in hers and kissed him with everything she had. Draco thought it was him…he was too overtaken with the desire and the way she called him lovely and the sparkle in her eyes that he kissed her…

For the time it lasted, Draco felt like he would never breathe again for fear of never finding anyone as amazing as her. For the time it lasted, Hermione realised that she'd done it again…and sobered up.

Breaking away she flushed bright red and saw a strange…freaked out look in Draco's eyes.

_What had she done? She'd ruined everything…their friendship…him being there for her…she'd kissed him. She'd stepped over a line…a line that had been drawn that clearly said that girls like her DIDN'T get boys like him. She'd lost him…she could see from the look in his eyes…the 'what the hell just happened' look. _

In a flash, Hermione stood up and grabbed her shoes.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry…" she whispered. "I don't…I don't like you like that really…I was just drunk…I…look just forget this ever happened…let's pretend it didn't happen…" and she turned and ran from the Great Hall, tears already falling down her face. She'd ruined their friendship. He'd never want to be around her now…now that she'd kissed him.

She'd lost him.

**I'd just like to say the biggest thankyou in the world to everyone who read this story. I am afraid this is the end! Goodbye.**

**Lol jk, I'm only joking ;) please, if you had the time to read it, leave me a review. There are like 50 people who have this on your alert lists but only about half of you have reviewed….please let me know what you think, it gives me confidence!**

**And thanks for reading.**

**xxxxxxxxx**


	9. Chapter 9

9) Two broken hearts that had learnt to love again

Ginny paused in her manic twirling, bringing Harry to an abrupt stop next to her. She was staring off towards the corner of the room, shock and upset written on her face.

"What's wrong, Gin?" Harry asked, keeping his hands on her waist as he followed her eye line…to see Hermione running towards the door crying and Draco sat alone, looking…shocked.

"They…they just _kissed!" _Ginny said. "They just kissed each other!"

"Ew, kissing, how gross…" Harry said. "Why has Hermione ran off?"  
"I don't know, but I'm going to go and find out. You go and look after Malfoy." Ginny said.

"Look after…look after…what?" Harry spluttered.

"Look after Malfoy," Ginny repeated calmly. "Look at him!"

They both looked at Draco, who looked paler than ever and ready to throw up.

"Gin…"

"There's nobody else to do it! I've got to go after Hermione! Please…Harry…please?" She'd wrapped her arms around his next and pulled herself close to him, so that her body was pressed against him. Her warm brown eyes were in full on puppy dog mode and she had an adorable pout. "I'll make it up to you…later." She said with a hint of a promise in her eyes. Without meaning too Harry found himself nodding and with a quick kiss, Ginny was running after Hermione.

With a sigh, Harry wandered over to where a dejected looking Malfoy sat, and took the seat next to him.

"Hi." Harry said lamely.

"What do you want, Potter?" Malfoy replied tiredly, shutting his eyes.

"What's up with yo..er Hermione? What's up with Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I kissed her." Draco replied flatly, banging his head against the wall behind him, for all the world reminding Harry of Dobby.

"Ah, yes, I can see why she finds that upsetting…." Harry said and Draco glared at him. "Well…uh…she's a girl?" Harry hoped that was more reassuring.

"Yeah and does Ginny run off crying when you kiss her?" Draco snapped.

"No," Harry admitted. "But Cho did…" Draco snorted and looked at him.

"Really?" He questioned.

"Yes! First time I kissed her, she cried. And then she seemed to like me. So, you know girls are weird. Don't give up hope."

Draco chewed his lip, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hermione!" Ginny called, wishing she'd chosen a slightly loser dress as she ran after her best friend who appeared to be running at random, not looking where she was going. "Hermione, wait up!"

Eventually Hermione stopped, gasping for breath, tears streaming down her face. They were in a corridor somewhere high up in the castle, near the Divination tower. Hermione wrapped her arms around herself and sank to the floor, taking deep stuttery breaths as she fought to regain composure.

Ginny knelt down next to her, and held out a tissue.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked soothingly, gently rubbing Hermione's shoulder.

"I…I…I kissed him Ginny!" Hermione cried, despairingly.

"I saw," Ginny replied. "But why? I thought you said you were going as friends?"

"That's what he said! That's what he wanted…and I thought that was what I wanted to!" She broke off into a new round of sobs. "I thought that was what I wanted!"

_Unknown to Ginny and Hermione, Harry and Draco were currently stood around the corner…having searched for the girls and found them…they were now unsure what to do. _

"_We should leave," Draco whispered, at the sound of Hermione crying…it was his fault for kissing her…why had he done it?_

"_No." Harry said. "Listen." _

"I...I thought that….we were friends…I didn't want…after Ron…I didn't want to ever fall in…love…again…I thought I could stop myself…I didn't realise…until this evening I'd been ignoring it…Gin…" Hermione burst into a fresh round of tears and Ginny hugged Hermione's head gently to her chest, like her mum did to her when she was upset. She stroked her friends hair.

"Ignoring what, Hermione?" Ginny asked gently.

"Draco…Ginny I d…did it again…I fell in love with someone who can…never love me back. Oh..Gin…I'm so stupid! I thought…I didn't think…I just ignored the feelings and let them build up…and I couldn't ignore them…and he was there…and I kissed him…and oh god…now he won't even want to be friends again."

She started sobbing again and unsure what to do, Ginny just kept hugging her.

_Harry grabbed Draco's wrist and dragged him back down the corridor, away from the girls. He turned to face his arch-enemy…who now looked dumbstruck. _

"_Did you hear that?" Harry asked…confused. Draco? Hermione loved Draco? Weird._

"_No Potter, I went temporarily deaf," Draco replied, his sarcasm surprisingly weak. _

"_What are you going to do?" Harry demanded._

"_I don't know…" Draco said. "She's upset…"_

"_Only because she thinks that you don't like her and that she's lost you! Idiot!"_

"_But it was me that kissed her!" _

"_Ginny said you both kissed each other." Harry replied. "I think she must have kissed you too." _

"_But…"_

"_But what?" Harry said, rolling his eyes._

"_She's beautiful and smart and funny and far too good for me!" _

Hermione stopped crying and looked at Ginny, who had a pensive look on her face.

"I think…I think Draco might like you, you know. I think he has done for a while…I think that's what changed him…not eating mistletoe…" Ginny grinned, but her eyes were vague. "That's the only thing that makes sense…why he started a fight with Crabbe and Goyle…why he lied for you to Snape…it all makes sense when you think about it…"

Hermione's brown eyes were still sad.

"But Ginny…what if that's true and now he thinks I'm on the rebound? He looked so…freaked-out after I kissed him."

"To be honest, Hermione, I think you both kissed each other…it certainly looked like he was aiming to kiss you as well…maybe he looked freaked out because HE thought that he'd kissed you when you didn't want him to?"

"There's no point getting all theoretical," Hermione sighed. "Even if he does like me, he won't believe I'm not on the rebound."

"Number one, he knows you aren't that shallow. Number two, people's hearts don't work that way. You really liked Ron, true, but you got over him and started to love Draco instead. Falling in love again after having your heart broken doesn't mean you're on the rebound, it means that you've found someone who is important enough that they can heal what was broken." Ginny quoted Hermione's words from weeks ago and Hermione regarded her shrewdly…she'd been right about Ginny and Harry…

But then again there were so many more issues here. Like her blood status and Draco's father…and the fact that Draco was so far out of her league she'd never be in it however much plastic surgery she got.

"_I agree," Harry said. "You aren't good enough for her and you never will be. But if you make her happy… and you do, you know, I've never seen her smile so much…then who am I to judge? If you've changed, then I won't stand in the way. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I want Hermione to be happy and if you're the one that makes her happy then so be it."_

"_I love her, Harry." Draco replied honestly. "I know I was a twat in the past…but something changed…and it was her."_

"_Well go and get her then, you idiot." _

"_What, now?" Draco looked positively terrified. _

"_Oh, for god's sake, don't be a wuss! I'll go get Gin and then you go and talk to Hermione." _

_And before Draco could stop him, to buy more time, Harry had turned on his heel and stalked off down the corridor. _

"Ginny!" Harry called, walking round the corner.

"Harry, I'm kind of busy!" Ginny glared at him from the floor, where she was rocking Hermione who was crying softly still.

"Well I need to talk to you."

"It can wait!" Ginny said, frowning at her boyfriend. Why was he being so insensitive. He began trying to mime something with his hands…something that looked like some kind o giant animal eating a bear? No…Ginny raised a confused eyebrow.

"Please just come with me!" Harry said, desperately signalling with his hands. Rolling her eyes, Ginny propped Hermione's head against the wall and stood up.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, Hermione." Ginny promised. "This better be good, or you're in trouble," she muttered into Harry's ear…and then she noticed a rather sheepish looking Draco. "Ah…" she said.

"Exactly," said Harry, taking her hand in his and leading her away.

"Um, hello." Draco said, taking Ginny's place next to Hermione. Hermione started slightly and flushed red, moving to get up. Draco grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. "Stop running away!" Draco said.

"I'm sorry…" Hermione said softly.

"What for?" Draco asked softly, not letting go of her risk. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"For kissing you…for ruining everything…" she said, burying her face in the one available hand she had left.

"Maybe you did kiss me, but I was already about to kiss you." Draco said. Hermione looked at him tentatively from behind her hand, reminding him of a cute little fluffy animal that was scared of something.

"Why?" She whispered.

"Because I've fallen in love with you." He answered simply. "Weeks ago. You took my heart without realising it…and you are the only person I have ever loved."

"You…you…love me?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Yes." Draco said softly. "And the way I feel right now, I think I always will."

And this time, he kissed her. He bent his head, slowly, so she knew what he was about to do. She didn't move away…and he didn't either. His lips met hers…her soft, kissable lips…the ones he'd dreamt of every night for weeks…and he kissed her like he was a dying man, desperately fighting for air. His hands moved without him really thinking about it…one tangling itself in her soft, fluffy brown hair, the other wrapping around her waist, drawing her towards him.

And so, in the corridor high up in the castle, lit by the moonlight, both kneeling on the dusty floor, they kissed like they'd never kissed anyone before. And Draco knew that he had finally found the person to free him from the life he'd come to detest and Hermione knew that this time she'd fallen in love with someone that could love her back…and that was hers to love.

He'd found her and fixed her and put her back together…healed all the hurt…and she'd done the same to him, but intentionally. He'd meant to fix her but she hadn't really known that he'd needed fixing, but she'd still managed it. They were two broken people that had fixed each other…two broken hearts that had learnt to love again…It was Hermione that broke away again. But this time, she had something different to say.

"I love you, too." She said, taking his handsome face in her hands. "You do know, that I don't like Ron anymore, right?"

"I know," Draco said, gently wiping the lingering remains of her tears away with his thumbs. "I can pinpoint the exact moment when you stopped loving him – I saw it in your eyes, after Lavender called you an evil cow…And I felt hope like I've never hoped before. Because I was in love with you then as well."

"Okay," she said smiling. "Just so long as you know this is nothing to do with him and everything to do with you."

"I do…I can't believe my luck…"

"Nor I, mine." Hermione grinned. "We're both too insecure for our own good."

"Who'd have thought the arrogant Draco Malfoy was insecure." He muttered and Hermione wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his neck.

"I'm going to do my best to change that," she mumbled. "And you aren't arrogant."

"I was."

"You were," she agreed. "But then I guess you ate some mistletoe."

Out of sheer exhilaration, they both collapsed into peals of laughter and collapsed to the floor, hugging each other and laughing.

Draco had never been so happy. Hermione felt like everything was finally going right. But as they lay on the cold, hard stone floor and kissed…things were happening elsewhere.

Things that were going to put one hell of a strain on their new romance…things that they both should have foreseen, but had chosen to overlook…


	10. Chapter 10

10) A fallen, broken angel.

Hermione woke up early, and for a long time she didn't get up at all…she just lay in bed, smiling as she relived the night before in her head. The tears she'd cried…afraid she'd ruined everything…and then the way he had kissed her. She touched her lips with a trembling hand and wondered if it was a sin to be so happy.

A smile still on her face she climbed out of bed and dressed quickly in jeans and a jumper. She was staying at Hogwarts over Christmas for the first time – her mum and dad were snowed under with work and she'd said she didn't mind. Harry always stayed, so she wouldn't be alone. For the first day of the holidays, she had a very long list of things to do. She had to get a lot of books out of the library for one thing, owl her parents, say goodbye to Draco (at 11 0'clock outside the common room), find her jumper, find Crookshanks and then go Christmas shopping with Ginny for Harry, as the Weasleys were staying at Hogwarts rather than with their ill Aunt Muriel who they all apparently hated.

Nobody was really out and about early in the morning so Hermione went to the Owlery first to write and post her letter. Once that was done she went to the library, filled her bag with books and headed down towards the Great Hall to begin the search for her missing jumper and cat.

She never got there.

Before she knew what was happening, strong arms grabbed her from behind, and dragged her off into a disused classroom. She heard a cool voice cast a locking spell as she struggled against the strong arms that held her.

_Down in his dormitory, Draco woke with a start and his first thought was that it was too quiet. Where were the snores of his fellow dorm mates? Sitting up with a growing sense of trepidation, Draco took in the empty beds of Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini. They never got out of bed early…especially not after a late night. Draco stumbled out of bed and pulled on some clothes, a strange feeling of fear in his stomach._

"_Oh Draco, thank god!" Michael yelled, from the door. "Some kid over there just told me that Crabbe and that lot have gone after Hermione, I was just going to find her!"_

"_SHIT!" Draco yelled, as he legged it over to the door. _

"So, filthy mud blood…what the hell did you feed Draco?" hissed Zabini, his face pressed right in front of Hermione's.

Hermione continued to struggle against Goyle, who held her as if it was no problem to him, as if she was a piece of paper. She wondered if she would have time to kick him where it hurt, grab her wand and disarm all three of them…if it were just Crabbe and Goyle she'd have a chance, but Zabini was nifty. And knew a lot of hexes that his father had taught him…

"Answer me when I talk to you, you little bitch." Zabini hissed in her face. "That's something you don't seem to understand. The hierarchy. It goes like this: Pureblood, Half-bloods, Scum. If you have no magical relations, you are scum. So Granger, you decided that you'd try and better yourself? Become acquainted with a Pureblood in the hope that people would overlook your filthy roots?"

Hermione remained obstinately silent.

It was a mistake…because Zabini had a quick temper and angered easily.

"SPEAK, YOU BAG OF TRASH!" He yelled. She shook her head and he lost it. He stepped forwards and fast as a viper, slapped Hermione round the face. She almost gasped in pain but held it in…she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Crabbe and Goyle laughed.

"Maybe I'm not getting through to you…" Zabini said. "I'll give you one last chance to tell us what potion you slipped Draco. Tell us, we'll give him the antidote and then we'll forget any of this ever happened."

Cheek smarting and fighting back tears, Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"What do you care about what I've done to Draco?" She asked. Slytherins didn't normally care about each other, she'd noticed. They were just acquaintances, waiting to be used. Zabini slapped her again, on the other cheek, harder. She tasted blood in her mouth.

"Don't question me, you piece of filth. We care to protect the good name of wizards and witches. You are not a witch, you are an imposter. Last chance, Granger. I'm getting tired of this. What potion did you use?"

"I didn't." Hermione replied, trying not to gag at the metallic blood filling her mouth. "He loves me.."

That was just too much to the Pureblood, and unleashing his full temper, he punched Hermione in the stomach. She buckled and fell forwards, Goyle letting go of her so she slammed into the floor. Winded, Hermione's head pounded. She didn't get a chance to catch her breath because Zabini kicked her in the side, hard. And then, before she really knew what was happening, they all started kicking and punching her.

Tears streaming down her face, and pain building to a level where she thought she would faint, Hermione knew that this was the price…the price of happiness .The cost of living. _Fight, Hermione, fight. _That would be what Draco would say…she'd fought death eaters at the ministry of magic and come out alive, surely she could handle three teenage boys? Her bruised, bloody and broken hand moved from where it was protecting her face…and as fast as she can she grasped the handle of her wand, feeling her nose crunch as a boot impacted with her unprotected face.

With a howl of pain, Hermione cast all that she could from the floor – a spell to unlock the door and one to amplify the sound in the room…so anyone passing within fifty metres would hear what was happening…and hopefully be a friend rather than a foe. Having done all that she could, Hermione succumbed to the beckoning, pain free blackness of unconsciousness.

_Suddenly, when they were searching the classroom on the second floor, they heard the sounds of boots kicking something…and the sound of bones being crushed…feeling physically sick, Draco grabbed Michael's arm and pulled him towards the nearest stairs. Pulling out his wand, he motioned for Michael to do the same…praying that it wasn't too late…_

"DEPRIMO!" Yelled Michael, when he saw the three boys kicking the bloody and broken girl on the floor. A strong wind flew from the tip of his wand, sending the bullies straight into the opposite wall. Crabbe and Goyle were knocked unconscious, but Zabini was back on his feet in seconds, his wand ready.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Draco screamed. "YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Draco had lost all hope of staying calm, at the sight of Hermione's still, unmoving body, covered in blood, her limbs twisted at strange angles. "CRUC-"

"NO!" Michael yelled, grabbing Draco's wand. "He's not worth it! Besides, Hermione's breathing you dolt, you've got to get her to Pomfrey, and bloody fast!"

Realising she was alive, Draco span and ran to her, scooping her up in his arms.

"Thanks, mate." Zabini muttered…he'd been victim of the Cruciatus curse once before…courtesy of his elder brother, and it wasn't something he ever wanted to relive.

"I am not your mate," Michael spat and punched Zabini in the face, before hurrying after Draco. Draco was walking quickly towards the hospital wing, looking like he was about to cry.

"Hey, man, she's gonna be okay." Michael said, squeezing Draco's shoulder. It was taking all of his will power not to go back and give those sick bastards what they deserved.

"This is my fault," Draco whispered, looking down at the white face, pale as an angel. A fallen, broken angel. "Being with me is dangerous for her."

"It's not your fault." Michael said firmly. "It's their faults, for being sick, prejudiced idiots."

"Look at her," Draco said, his voice catching in his throat. "Look."

When they got to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey was horrified. Draco was covered in blood too…and she insisted on checking his quickly, even though he insisted it was all Hermione's blood. Madame Pomfrey ordered Michael to floo call Dumbledore as she wielded her wand over the corpse like body of Hermione. Draco refused to move from the head of her bed, where he was knelt down, her limp and bloody hand clutched between both of his hands.

"Madame Pomfrey! I was in a meeting, I hope this is urg…WHO DID THIS?" Taking in the injured girl, Dumbledore instantly went from sweet, humorous old man to the powerful, scary wizard that he housed inside. "Mr Malfoy, who was it?"

But Draco didn't hear him. Draco had eyes and ears for the corpselike girl before him. He seemed to be in some kind of shock…he was shaking and stroking her hair and whispering to her.

"Michael?" Dumbledore asked, as Pomfrey began to close up Hermione's open wounds.

"Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle, Professor." Michael answered. "When we got there she was unconscious and they were kicking her."

"And what has prompted such a barbaric attack?" the old man asked, his eyes grave.

"Hermione has recently entered into a relationship with Draco, sir." Michael replied. "Some of the Slytherins took badly to the news that a muggle-born was supposedly stepping out of her league."

"I see," Dumbledore said, shaking his head sadly. "Madame Pomfrey, could you tell me the list of her injuries?"

"Of course," Pomfrey said, as she began applying salve to Hermione's face. She grabbed a bottle of Bone-Repair from a cupboard and handed it to Draco to hold. He barely even registered it. "Aside from the obviously lacerations to her body, her left arm is broken, her nose is broken, three ribs are broken, four others are cracked, she has a total of six broken fingers and three broken toes, and the top of her head was split open."

Hermione whimpered slightly on the bed, as Madame Pomfrey's ministrations began to bring her round.

"When she wakes, I will need to administer copious Bone-Repair …and I need Severus to bring me some Anti-Pain potion." Pomfrey said to herself. "Headmaster, these boys will have to be expelled. There's no other course of action."

"I know." Dumbledore said, sadly. "Indeed, I know."

And he turned and left, to find and expel the transgressors. It was with a heavy heart that he did so…he hated that prejudices of the higher born could lead to such violence and destructiveness.

In the hospital wing, Hermione was coming round, just as Snape arrived with the Anti-Pain potion. She opened her eyes and as she did, pain stronger than anything she'd ever felt before filled her body…her leg…her arm…her ribs…her fingers…her toes…

"Ow!" She said and Draco was immediately there.

"Hermione." He said, his face drawn and pale.

"Oh hello!" She smiled at him. "Owwww. What the hell happened?"

Professor Snape loomed up by the bed, and taking the glass by the bedside cabinet filled it with a blue liquid.

"Drink." He instructed firmly, pressing the rim of the glass to Granger's lips, aware that with so many broken fingers she wouldn't be able to do so herself. Trusting the Professor, Hermione drank and was amazed as the pain receded quickly.

"Thank you, sir." Hermione said. She tried to move her arm…but it wouldn't work.

"It is broken, Miss Granger." Snape said curtly. "Madame Pomfrey will fix it as soon as she can."

"Ah…" said Hermione…and the memory of her attack flooded back. "I'm still alive! You rescued me!" She turned to Draco, a smile on her beautiful face.

"I almost didn't. What if I hadn't got there in time?" His face was tortured…and Hermione could see that he blamed himself for her attack.

"But you did." She said. "Draco Malfoy, don't you _dare _blame yourself for this! It is in no way your fault, and had you known you'd have got there sooner…but at least you did, before I bled to death or something."

"Indeed." Snape agreed, meeting Draco's eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Miss Granger, I would like to apologise on behalf of my house for what has happened to you today. I hope that you realise I do not support of condone such opinions and actions against people such as yourself. I also assure you that nothing like this will happen again. The fact that your attackers are being expelled should be enough of a deterrent, and if it weren't, I will assure that they come up against the Ministry next month with a charge of assault and attempted murder."

"But…but…they could go to Azkaban! You can't let that happen!" Hermione said, struggling to sit up. Draco shook his head, bemused…and yet he knew he would have been disappointed if she hadn't protested. It was her intrinsic goodness that he loved so much.

"Miss Granger, don't be absurd. They wished to kill you. There is no punishment they get that could possibly make up for that attempt."

"But…but…no!" Hermione was now attempting to climb off the bed, and Snape pressed her firmly back down against the pillow.

"Miss Granger, calm yourself. They are unlikely to be sentenced to Azkaban at such a young age…however it is likely they will be sent abroad to work in rather…unsavoury conditions for a few years. They deserve it, Miss Granger. Now stop arguing or I will use a sticking hex to stick you to the bed. You need to rest."

Madame Pomfrey came bustling back over at that point and Professor Snape dismissed himself, with one last stern warning to Hermione not to leave the bed. Pomfrey began dosing Hermione with the Bone-Repair which tasted like bleach and made Hermione gag.

"Swallow it, Hermione. C'mon." Draco said, stroking her hair and watching as she swallowed. He pressed a mint into her hand.

Finally, Hermione was so drugged on potions that she fell asleep. This time though, she looked alive, with pink back in her cheeks and a slight smile on her face. Madame Pomfrey handed Draco some bandages and splints and ordered him to see to her fingers, as she bandaged the rest of Hermione's broken bones.

Madame Pomfrey left to fill in some paperwork, and Michael to go and pack his trunk, but Draco remained sat where he was. He'd received an owl from his father last night, saying that he was too busy with work to have Draco over the holidays…something Draco was immensely happy about now. He needed to be here, by Hermione's side. To protect her.

When he was alone with her, he climbed gently onto the hospital bed and shifted her position so that she lay in his arms. He tucked the sheets around her and rocked her as she slept, in the hope that bodily contact would keep any dreams of her ordeal at bay. As he looked down at her face, so peaceful and calm, he vowed that he wouldn't let anybody hurt her ever again. For as long as she lived, he would stand by her side and stop her from ever becoming a fallen, broken angel again.

_**There is more to come guys **_

_**Please review, they mean the world to me and really encourage me to carry on**_

_**Also, did you know that reviewers are 65% less likely to be targeted by Wrackspurts? **_


	11. Chapter 11

11) Love is a funny thing

Hermione woke up really early in the morning, hungry , bored and only a little bit achy. Flexing her fingers, she surmised that they were all fixed…thanks to three doses of Bone-Repair…ugh. Draco had stayed with her, talking and beating her at wizard's chess until Madame Pomfrey had ordered him to leave and go to bed, at eleven o'clock at night. She hadn't even wanted him there at all – she'd said that Hermione needed rest and had point blank refused to allow Harry and the Weasleys into the ward.

Hermione predicted that the school would be pretty empty, what with everyone having gone home…so she decided to risk going up to the Common room, waking Ginny up and asking her for some of the cake that Mrs Weasley kept her stocked up on. She was fairly sure that nobody would a) be up or b) try anything…as Professor Snape had come to visit her after Draco had gone, much to the annoyance of Madame Pomfrey.

"_There has been a notice sent out to all families of students at Hogwarts, informing them of what has happened here today. Professor Dumbledore also spoke to all students still here at dinnertime. The Board of Governors condone the decision to expel the boys and it has not been overruled. Despite your foolish misgivings, Amelia Bones is pushing for a sentence in Azkaban for the boys. No, stay in bed, Miss Granger! This is out of your hands!"_

"_But, Professor!"_

"_Miss Granger, would you have them allowed back out with no consequences to dissuade them from doing what they did to you? Miss Granger, they left you for dead! I admit that I do not wish to see another living soul sentenced to Azkaban but Amelia Bones, as do I, believe that it is a fair consequence for your attack. There is nothing more for you to do, but wait and see what their sentence shall be. It may also be relieving for you to hear that you personally have not been connected with the incident, and you will remain anonymous to protect both you and your family for vengeance. Understood?" _

He'd then left with a rather scary instruction not to leave her bed until she'd taken her morning potion which he would bring…Madame Pomfrey had left early that morning, to help her sick mother, leaving care duties to the rather uncaring Snape…but she was hungry. And wanted cake.

Unfortunately for Hermione, Professor Snape was just as shrewd as he seemed…and had set wards around the hospital wing that alerted him that Miss Granger had taken it upon herself to disobey his instruction. Luckily for Hermione, Snape was already awake…so he wasn't woken up by the loud alarm ringing in his eyes. Rolling his eyes, he quickly decanted the Ache-Ease potion he'd just finished brewing into a large bottle and then put a portion into a smaller bottle for the disobedient girl. "Why do children never do what they're told?" He grumbled to himself as he set out towards the Hospital wing.

He arrived in time to see Miss Granger lean up against the wall to catch her breath. He noted straight away that he bones were fixed…but the foolish girl was fatigued from the Bone-Repair…she wasn't supposed to have left the Hospital Wing.

"Miss Granger!" He snapped, stalking towards her. "Care to explain what you are doing?"

"Trying…to…breath…sir!" Hermione struggled. "I…just…wanted…Ginny's…cake."

"Oh you foolish, foolish child!" Snape scolded as Hermione sank to the floor and promptly fell unconscious. Grumbling to himself, Snape scooped her up and carried her the short distance back to the hospital wing where he deposited her back in her bed, setting the potion for achiness next to the bed. Bone-Repair was a nasty potion…it did its job and fixed the bones but it left the patient drained and exhausted, because it had to use their magical core to fix the bones. And Hermione had had an unusually large dose…hence the fact that walking the length of a corridor had left her drained to the point of collapse.

Snape hoped nobody had seen him carry the girl. That would truly damage his 'evil bat of the dungeons' reputation. He knew that a lot of his house were already turning against him…for he had stood next to Dumbledore and stated that if anything like that happened again, he would happily expel the transgressors himself. He had clearly said there would be no support for his house on matters like this.

Dumbledore only knew part of the reason that Snape was so keen to prevent anything like that happening again. True, he hated the prejudices because of Lily…his muggleborn friend, who haunted him. But there was a larger issue at play…woman beating. He had watched his mother beaten to a pulp so often by his drunken father and he'd been unable to help. But he could help Granger. He could stop that ever happening to her again…and he wanted to. He found that he wanted to help her, because in her own right, she deserved it. Not the least because he could see a bright future ahead of her – not many witches or wizards could cast two spells as powerful as the ones she had yesterday morning, while being kicked into a bloody mess. She was a law unto herself.

Going into Madame Pomfrey's office, Snape pulled open her cupboards and took out a couple of doses of Energiser Potion, taking them to Hermione's bedside. Knowing that she would be out for at least another half an hour, Snape went to Gryffindor tower and knocked on the Portrait, much to the anger of the Fat Lady, because he could hear low voices inside.

Sure enough, it creaked open to reveal the youngest Weasley, Granger's cat clutched in her arms.

"Miss Weasley, do you have any cake?"

"Do…c…do I have any cake, Professor?" Ginny asked, completely confused.

"Indeed. I discovered Miss Granger attempting to break out of the hospital wing in order to get some cake."

"Well, Mum's cake is pretty good!" Ginny replied cheekily, grinning at Snape who raised a sardonic eyebrow.

"Very well. Could you bring it along in one hour? Bring the buffoons that I can hear in there…" Snape said, referring to Harry and Ron, who were having a shouting match over a chess game.

"Yes, sir. How is she?"

"Exhausted. But she's…cheerful considering."

"Well yeah, she's Hermione!"

"Indeed."

"Do you want me to get Draco on our way there?" Ginny asked, stroking the monstrosity of a cat.

Snape paused for a moment…unsure of what to say.

"Miss Weasley…what are your feelings about Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger?"

"Oh, I think it's cute…I mean, Draco is so nice now…even Harry admitted that he was okay! Even Harry, Professor!"

"Even, Potter, eh?" Snape said sarcastically, wondering if the youngest Weasley was so familiar with everyone. He surmised that she probably was…having a large family often forced one to be forthcoming. "But if you have no qualms, then you may indeed fetch Mr Malfoy."

He turned to leave.

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

Snape turned and gave the small ginger girl his best death glare. Annoyingly she didn't flinch…but then what did he expect from a girl who had been involved with a bloody basilisk when she was just eleven?

"Why on earth would you have any concerns about my health, Miss Weasley?"

"Well it's just yesterday you openly said you wouldn't support Slytherin attacks on other houses…and you're looking after Hermione really nicely…I just thought, you know, that you might be…possessed." Ginny stared at him, her wide blue eyes searching his face. Exasperated, Snape threw his hands in the air.

"Miss Weasley, I understand why the idea of someone being possessed would be alarming to you, but I assure you that I am one hundred percent myself. Recent events have just…prompted…me to reform my views slightly. Okay?"

"Okay!" Ginny grinned at him. Annoying child.

"Well, I must see to Miss Granger. One hour."

He swept off down to the kitchens, to get some kind of breakfast prepared for his patient.

_In the hospital wing, Hermione was just waking up….she couldn't really remember what happened. She remembered wanting cake…and going to get it but feeling woozy…and then oh god Professor Snape. Hermione sat up and immediately regretted it as her head pounded. She could see three glass bottles on her cabinet that hadn't been there before. She decided to go and look for Snape in Pomfrey's office, because the door was open…but discovered that she couldn't move out of bed. Snape, it seemed, had made good on his promise to stick her to the bed. Sighing she lay back down. Still craving some cake. _

Snape again hoped that anyone who saw him presumed that the breakfast of bacon, egg, sausage, toast and a steaming mug of tea was for him…he had a reputation to think about…if people knew he was nursing a Gryffindor back to health then they'd all stop being scared of him…and stop handing homework in…and stop being silent and careful in his lessons. The world would be over.

When he got to the Hospital wing, Granger was awake and had clearly discovered the fact that she was hexed to the bed.

"Ah, Miss Granger, do not glare at me like that. You only have yourself to blame." Snape said, placing the tray of food on her lap and waving a hand to remove the hex. "Now, before you eat, would you like to tell me what the hell you were doing? I _told _you specifically that you needed rest!"

"Sorry sir." Hermione said, eyes downcast. "I felt okay when I woke up…"

"Of course you did!" Snape snapped, exasperated. "You were lying in bed, not moving! You weren't doing anything that required any of the minimal energy you have left! Did you forget what Bone-Repair does?" Hermione frowned for a second…and then a look of realisation covered her face.

"Oh…" she said.

"Oh indeed." Snape declared, narrowing his eyes. "Never disobey me again, I say things for a reason. Now, first you will drink this energy potion. Then you will eat. And then you will take this potion to remove achiness."

"And then can I go get c…uh…see my friends?"

Snape raised an eyebrow at Miss Granger…the girl was slim so this obsession she had with cake was laughable.

"No."

"But Professor…"

"Miss Granger, you cannot walk! You will remain here for at least three more days…possibly even Christmas day as well."

Hermione looked like she was about to cry so Snape decided that he'd punished her enough for leaving her bed.

"Your friends will however be here in just under an hour…and I shall let them in provided you eat all of that breakfast."

"All of it?" Hermione asked, looking at the mounds of food.

"Yes. We need to build your strength back up from the Bone-Repair."

With a disgruntled sigh, Hermione began to eat the cooked breakfast slowly. She didn't particularly like cooked breakfast…but the look Snape was giving her over the top of his Potions book clearly left no room for argument.

"Will Draco be coming?" Hermione asked, perusing the sausage and slice of bacon she had left.

"Only if you eat that food."

"But is he actually coming?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

Hermione beamed at Snape and he had to fight back the urge to shudder at the lovey-dovey look in her eyes. Stupid lovesick teenagers.

"But you will not do anything that I would deem inappropriate, Miss Granger, for I will be remaining here seeing as I cannot trust you to stay put."

"That's fine sir!" Hermione said. "I just want to see him!"

And she ate the remaining food on her plate without any fuss. Snape regretted having told her Draco was coming because she was an insufferable nuisance the rest of the time…practically bouncing up and down with a strange glittery look in her eyes.

Hermione was delighted. Draco was coming! She'd gotten used to the idea of spending the holiday without him…but he was still here! That meant she could give him his Christmas present personally. She began to vibrate as she waited for her…boyfriend.

She beamed at Snape who glowered at her.

Draco was her boyfriend. She had a boyfriend. And best of all, her boyfriend was Draco.

Hermione, lying in bed because she'd been brutally attacked, was happier than she had ever been in her life. Love is a funny thing.

**T B C**

**Mebbe. If I can be bothered. :P **


	12. Chapter 12

**12) Another love story **

Ginny stood outside the Slytherin common room…her normal confidence deserting her. She knew what Hermione had told her about Draco…and she had seen evidence herself that he was nice…in fact they'd exchanged a few pleasantries in the library on occasion. But was that all a show? Would he now be rude to her, now that Hermione wasn't there? Malfoy had always hated the 'blood-traitors'…both for liking muggles and for being poor.

Swallowing, Ginny took a deep breath. Harry was waiting impatiently by her side and Ron was waiting at the end of the corridor with the cake. Neither of them had been thrilled by the idea of retrieving Draco but Ginny had talked them round, insisting they had to do what Hermione would want. Harry had refused to let Ginny go anywhere near the Slytherins alone after Hermione's attack, so was hovering like an over-protective bodyguard, his wand held obviously in his hand.

"Excuse me?" Ginny said to the wall that was the entrance.

"Password." It hissed.

"Uh…I don't have the password. Please could you let me in?"

Harry rolled his eyes and Ginny trod on his foot.

"No." Was the firm hissed reply.

"Fine." Snapped Ginny. "DRACO! DRAAAAAAAAAACO!"

Harry clapped his hands over his ears, not having realised that Ginny had cast a silent Sonorous on herself. Ginny was getting far too good at silent magic…especially seeing as Harry couldn't even do it and he was older than her. He frowned, heart still pounding at the loud noise.

"Don't be jealous babe," Ginny said. "Although you do look pretty cute when you pout like that…" she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close…only to be interrupted by Draco, hurrying out of the doorway, dressed with a bunch of flowers clutched in his hand.

"Are we going to see Hermione?" he asked. "Nice spellwork by the way We…uh Ginny."

"Thanks Ma…Draco." Ginny beamed. "Where'd you get the flowers?"

"I went down to Hogsmeade really early this morning…don't tell anyone though, obviously it's against the rules."

"Since when have you stupid snakes cared about rules?" Harry said heatedly. "It's your…" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Ginny struck again with her silent spell work…this time a Silencio.

"Um…Draco why don't you and Ron start heading up? Harry and I will catch you up!" Ginny said with a wide, friendly smile.

"Right." Draco said, hurrying off down the corridor with some chagrin. Potter clearly blamed him for Hermione's attack…and thought that he was like the other Slytherins. _Whose fault is that? _Draco's inner voice betrayed him. It was his fault. He'd built that level of hatred and distrust. He just had to hope that with time he could dissolve it and build something more positive in its place.

_When Draco had gone, Ginny turned to Harry, an absolutely terrifying look in her brown eyes that reminded Harry of Mrs Weasley when Fred, George and Ron had rescued him using the flying car. _

"_Harry Potter!" Ginny scolded and Harry bit his lip. Ginny could be kind of scary when she got mad. "It was NOT Draco's fault that Hermione got hurt! In fact if it hadn't been for Draco finding her and getting her to the hospital wing, she would bloody well be dead! And, he stayed with her you know, all day yesterday! Pomfrey tried to make him leave but he just wouldn't go anywhere! Harry you'd better stop all this nonsense right now or so help me I will hex you!" _

_Ginny paused, breathing heavily and was surprised when Harry nodded._

"_You're right," he wrinkled his nose. "As much as I hate to admit it, I was being a prick. Draco…well he's really changed hasn't he?" _

_Ginny stared at Harry, the most amazing feeling of pride rising in her chest. Her boyfriend was being the bigger person…admitting he was wrong…embracing someone that she thought he never would – with enough reason. Ginny stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Harry. Harry hugged her back, glad that he had the fiery, beautiful girl to point out when he was wrong. _

"_Ginny?" _

"_Yes?" Harry swallowed. He knew that Ginny knew this…but he hadn't ever said it…because he was afraid. Afraid of how much she could hurt him by leaving him. But he was a complete idiot sometimes and Ginny stuck by him…_

"_I love you." _

_Ginny's brown eyes met his with a kind of heady exultation. _

"_I love you too, Harry." And she kissed him with enough force to take his breath away. Hermione and Draco weren't the only love story…there was another one…._

"Um, what did you say they were doing?" Ron asked…Ginny _was _his baby sister after all. Maybe she shouldn't be left alone in a corridor with her boyfriend.

"I think they're arguing." Draco replied cordially. They were walking really slowly…but were still almost there.

"Oh, that's good." Ron said.

"So…uh…you here for Christmas?"

"Yeah." Ron replied. "You?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

Thankfully they were saved from the increasing awkwardness of the conversation by heavy footsteps, as a rather flushed looking Harry and Ginny caught up, holding hands. Harry smiled at Draco sort of tentatively and Draco returned the smile.

Ron handed Ginny the cake as Draco knocked on the door.

"Oh, here you are." Snape said.

"Well I did say we…"

"Don't be cheeky, Miss Weasley. Just because it is the holidays doesn't mean I won't take points."

"Sorry Professor." Ginny grinned, unperturbed. "Please may we come in?"

"Yes. I however am trying to work, and Miss Granger has already passed out once this morning from over-exertion so if the noise level gets too high for my liking you shall all leave. Understood?" At their agreement, Snape swept out of the way and allowed the annoying children into the room.

Hermione was lying in bed, a book in her hands. When she saw her friends she set it down with a big smile.

"Oh finally! I thought you'd never come and rescue me from Prof…er…boredom!" Hermione corrected at Snape's death glare as he settled down in the corner. "Oh Ginny, I love you!"

She took the cake and began eating it, oblivious to the sickly sweet smile that passed between Harry and Ginny.

"God I love cake." She said.

_Draco pulled up a chair right next to her head and set the flowers in the empty vase on her bedside cabinet. _

"_How are you feeling?" Draco asked anxiously, smoothing her hair back off her forehead in an unsubtle attempt to gauge if she was a comfortable temperature. He kissed her lightly on the forehead. _

"_I'm okay," she smiled up at him and took his face in her hands._

"_Are you sure? Your hands are kind of cold." Draco took them in his and rubbed them in an attempt to warm them up._

"_Yeah that's because I had them out of my cosy duvets," Hermione said, glancing over at Snape who was absorbed in his book before pulling Draco closer and kissing him._

Feeling a little put out at the private conversation going on, Ron grabbed a chair and put it in the same position as Draco's on the opposite side of the bed.

"Hello Hermione!" He said loudly and Hermione smiled at him, turning her head away from Draco.

"Hey! Has Lavender gone home or did she not want to come and visit?"

"Oh…no…Lavender went home." Ron said, dragging his mind back to Lavender. He _loved _Lavender, so why was he getting this horrible angry feeling in the pit of his stomach when he looked at Hermione and Draco?

"I can't believe those guys did that to you, Hermione." Harry said, sitting at the end of her bed. Ginny sat on his lap. "If I'd have known…I'd have done something to help.."

"Of course, Harry!" Hermione said with a smile. "You can't save everyone though, and you weren't to know."

"If I ever see those guys again…" Ron grumbled under his breath and Hermione beamed.

Ron and Harry left shortly after that to go and get an assortment of wizard games and some of their supplies from Honeydukes and the five spent a large proportion of the day playing games, laughing, talking, telling jokes and eating. Despite the noise level being high, Snape didn't object because Hermione looked well and happy and he knew if they sent them away Draco would spend the rest of the day alone in his common room…plus it seemed that although Weasley remained silently hostile, Potter and Ginny were making a real effort with Draco…and Draco with them. So Snape allowed the noise to continue and tried to read his book.

Exploding Snap was the current game and Hermione lay back against her pillows, watching the cards with a chocolate frog in one hand and her cards in the other, feeling content. Everyone was so nice to her…it was perfect. She had the best friends in the world and the best boyfriend ever…she was so happy.

But happiness has a strange habit of disappearing just when it gets to unfair proportions…

_**Guys, please please review. There are 90 or so of you who have this on alert but few of you review and it makes me sad :'( :P **_


	13. Chapter 13

13) Crucio

**Warning: there is some abuse in this scene…as well as a bit of romance ;) but seriously, if abuse bothers you a great deal, don't read it, I don't wanna upset anyone with my bit of realism. Thanks to everyone for reading, this isn't the end of the story…(although it might be for someone)…so keep reading, and please review :D xxxx**

It was Christmas Eve and much to Hermione's chagrin, she was still in the hospital wing. She wanted to be allowed out…but she knew she wasn't ready. Her body had suffered a great deal of damage and although magic had repaired much of it, her body lacked energy. Energy that she hoped would have built up enough for her to spend Christmas day out of the hospital bed. Her parents, hearing of her assault, had been to visit her already but they'd left again when she insisted she was fine and they really couldn't leave the business unattended when she was already in the best hands.

Pomfrey hadn't returned so she was still under the eye and caustic tongue of Professor Snape…but at least he allowed her friends and Draco in to see her. Still, she was getting bored of the boring white walls and the bed wasn't as big or as comfortable as hers in the Gryffindor tower. And she'd read all of the books that she'd been provided with, and done all of the Christmas homework…there just wasn't anything to do.

At half eight that morning Snape appeared with her breakfast and her potions. After she'd eaten he gave her the potions and used his wand to cast a quick diagnostic spell over the girl. He hoped she would be well enough to leave tomorrow and spend Christmas with her friends…also freeing him from the task of taking Pomfrey's mantle. He noted that she was definitely better than when she collapsed from walking…but also that he body was still struggling to process the large quantity of Bone-Repair…thus remaining weak.

"Miss Granger…" he said, capturing the attention of Hermione away from the window, where snow was beginning to fall, coating the grounds like icing on a cake.

"Yes, Professor?" She asked with an anxious look on her face. Was he going to tell her that she couldn't spend Christmas with everyone else? Would she have to stay in the stupid hospital wing all day and miss the massive Christmas lunch and having presents with her friends and pulling crackers and wearing paper hats?

"I am going to have to leave you here alone for the duration of the day. I will send Mr Malfoy. Promise me that you will take your potions at lunchtime and dinnertime?" Snape said, leaning down so he was on the eye level with the girl.

"I promise, sir." Granger replied, curiosity in her eyes.

"I will be in my private potions lab, brewing a Toxin-Reducer. Bone-Repair, as you probably know, is toxic in large quantities and although your body can deal with it… it takes a while. If I brew the Toxin-Reducer correctly, it will enable you to be full recovered for Christmas. The only reason I didn't brew it earlier is that it is a highly difficult and expensive potion…however I believe that we might as well have a stock of it available…in case anything like this happens again…not that it will. Does that sound…acceptable?"

Hermione stared at him for a few seconds and then without any warning…the annoying girl through her arms around him in an impossibly tight, slightly painful hug.

"Oh thank you Sir!" Hermione practically yelled in his ear. "Thank you oh thank you!"

"Yeeees.." Snape said, holding still and wondering why children were such infernal creatures. "Well…f you would release me, I can begin. I need a total of ten hours."

Hermione withdrew her arms, a slight blush on her face…_she'd hugged Snape, the evil bat of the dungeons…_but she was too happy to worry too much about her faux pas.

"Um, bye sir." She said.

He nodded curtly and pointed warningly at her.

"If you don't take your potions, then I won't give you the Toxin-Reducer. Mr Malfoy will be up shortly."

Hermione beamed and watched the tall, dark man walk away. He'd always seemed so harsh…so evil…Hermione wondered idly what it was that had caused him to change his attitude so drastically. He used to make fun of Hermione for being a know-it-all but now he was looking after her and giving up his time and money to brew a really expensive, difficult potion so she could have a nice Christmas.

She stretched and waited for Draco, wondering if Ron, Ginny and Harry would accompany him. As much as she loved her friends she hoped they wouldn't…she hoped that he could come alone…

And he did.

Looking adorable in a hand knitted green jumper and a pair of stylish black jeans which probably cost more than Hermione's entire wardrobe, he was carrying yet another bunch of flowers in his hand, a sheepish look on his beautiful face.

"I thought you might like some more colour in here," he said with a grin, setting the flowers down next to the other two bunches.

"Thanks," she said, kissing him quickly on the lips. "Where are Harry, Ron and Ginny?"

"Well I saw Ginny not that long ago, she said Harry and Ron were still in bed, and she's gone down to Hogsmeade with that crazy girl Luna for something or other."

"So…looks like we're…all alone." Hermione said, coyly raising an eyebrow. Draco grinned at her…she looked so very tempting…she was dressed in a simple white hospital gown that made her look angelic, her hair was swept back in a messy ponytail that was ridiculously appealing and her cheeks were slightly pink as he body began to recover.

"Looks like we are…but where is Professor Snape?" Draco asked, desperately wanting to feel the warmth of her body against his again but not wanting his Professor and Head of House to witness a private, romantic moment.

"He's in his lab brewing a complicated potion that takes ten hours to brew. He won't be back." Hermione beamed. "Now come here…please?"

She widened her eyes and pouted slightly and with a huge smile, Draco surrendered to temptation, slipping off his trainers and climbing into Hermione's bed, slipping under the covers with her. She wrapped her arms around him, drawing his warm, solid body towards her. She loved the way their bodies fit together…her soft curves against his hard muscles…like pieces of a puzzle that were meant to be together, that would always be paired together no matter what. His arms wrapped around her, like some kind of protective cage. Safe and warm, and forever.

"You're so beautiful, Hermione Granger." Draco said, his eyes worshipping the gorgeous, celestial face on the pillow next to him. He cupped her face with one of his hands, and guided it to his. He kissed her soft, sweet lips with everything he had in him and couldn't stop himself shivering in delight as he felt her warm hand slide under his t-shirt and rest against the sharp muscles of his abdomen. Hermione couldn't help herself. She wanted to touch him…to touch the sculpted perfection of his body…just to be sure that he was there.

His lips on her excited her in a way she'd never felt before…and she just wanted to have him there in every way. It was something she couldn't explain at all…but touching his six-pack definitely helped. And she didn't miss the slight shiver that passed through his body, pressed against hers, when she touched him. His hand was cradling her face and his other hand slipped lower down her back…

Draco wanted her so much…but he knew, in his heart of hearts, that this was as far as he would go yet. He would be content with them lying body to body and kissing and touching only a little. He didn't want to treat her like he had the other girls in his past…the one's he'd just taken and enjoyed and then tossed aside. He wasn't a virgin by a long shot, but he knew that Hermione was. As much as he wanted her, he wanted to prove to her that he wasn't with her for this. He was with her for who she was, not the amazingness that was her body, or the pleasure she could give his body. It was a deeper connection that that. So Draco contented himself with stroking her lower back, and cradling her face, while she ran her fingers tantalisingly over his muscles.

For Hermione, it was a taste of heaven. A snippet of what could be. What should be. What would hopefully be. She was flying so far above the ground that she was sure if she paused to look she wouldn't be able to see the ground. She hadn't fallen in love with Draco. Because whatever falls is broken…like her and Ron. But Draco…she just was in love with him. There had been no fall, just ascension to a height of happiness that left her dizzy with love and lust and longing. She was walking amongst the clouds, hand in hand with an angel.

That moment was perfection, and if either of them had the power, they would have frozen it like that forever. But life isn't fair and although both Hermione and Draco deserved the time they were spending together, and the extreme happiness they felt, life had so many obstacles prepared to be thrown in the way.

With the strange intuition that someone who lives in fear of someone else their entire lives knows when that someone is close… Draco suddenly sensed the presence of his father. It was a skill that he had honed to perfection in his childhood…he knew when his dad was in a room and so avoided it, he knew when his dad was heading to where his mum was so he could warn her…and he knew when he was on his way to Draco's room with his cane…

"Pretend to be asleep." He hissed at Hermione. "Quickly."

He knew he was close…he could feel it. The anger that always radiated off him…the strange urge of his to hurt people…it was a tangible sense and Draco knew.

Confused, but worried by the fear in Draco's voice, Hermione shut her eyes and Draco slid off the bed, his hand clutching his wand. Not wanting to be too obvious, he picked up one of Hermione's potions in his spare hand…

And right on cue, the hospital wing doors slammed open with a force that made Draco wince.

"Stay," he whispered at the slight flinch that passed across Hermione's face. "No matter what happens, stay. He won't hurt you if he thinks you're asleep."

He hoped…his dad had never liked attacking a target that wasn't able to fight back. He never let his target fight back…but it was the principal that if they couldn't it was the lowest of the low. But Draco didn't know if his dad had the rule just for his family, or if it would stretch as far as to include muggle borns.

Draco turned with the potion still in his hand. His dad looked…deranged. Psychotic. Ready to kill.

"Oh…hello father." Draco said, with a quick bow. A formality he loathed, yet one he'd been beaten into doing. "I wasn't expecting to see you this Christmas."

"Evidently." Lucius hissed, approaching the bed. His eyes skimmed over the sleeping mudblood filth that his son was apparently with…he'd argued furiously on Draco's behalf, insisting to all of his friends that his son would never…and yet why was Draco in the hospital wing? "What are you doing in here?"

Draco gulped and looked at the potion. He held it up.

"Professor Snape asked me to bring this…I…I was going…to tamper with it."

Lucius scrutinised the boy…he hadn't seen him in months and yes there was something different about him. More happy, less uptight…he even looked like he had been smiling…he had smile lines. Lucius felt a surge of anger. His son was meant to serve the Dark Lord, not pander to the whims of filthy little sluts. Draco was meant to follow in his footsteps, be like him. But maybe…a soft tug of hope…was Draco trying to kill the filthy mudblood instead of loving her as Crabbe and Goyle's furious fathers had suggested?

Lucius smiled, a smile that sent sickening chills down Draco's spine.

"Well, my clever boy." He said, silkily. "Why don't you just do it the easy way?"

"The easy way, father?" Draco asked, moving to stand closer to his father. Putting himself between him and Hermione. "What is easier than contaminating the potion? Nobody would suspect."

"We are past the time of that mattering, my boy. Your friends have been expelled, what more do you have here? I have secured a place at Durmstrang. I feel if we were to kill the girl now, and leave her here, and go, flee the country for a time…that would sort things nicely until we overthrow the ministry."

"Why, father? I do not wish to go to Durmstrang, Hogwarts serves me well."

"Well kill the girl and leave. Nobody would suspect you, after all what motives would you have for being in the hospital wing?"

"Professor Snape ordered me here sir, if he discovered Herm…Granger, was dead then…"

"Professor Snape is not on the side of filth, Draco. He fights with us. The Dark Lord may be weak and in hiding, but Professor Snape's allegiance to him holds strong. As does mine. As should yours."

"It does, sir."

"Well, kill her."

"J…just like that, sir?" Draco asked. Lucius walked closer, tapping his wand cane against his leg.

"I believe, my boy, that we spoke about your indecision this summer…" Lucius growled. He hated his son's lack of spontaneity…his inability to act on an idea the second it entered his head…Draco stood still, not answering and Lucius's formidable temper flared.

He grabbed the boy roughly and shoved him to the side, simultaneously bringing his wand cane (which he had for this very purpose) sharply down against the back of his son's thighs. He found this a very effective method of control. At first he'd only done it when the boy was small…but he found the humiliation of it suited to deal with Draco perfectly. Still angered by his son's lack of response he laid five more strokes of fire across Draco's thighs before releasing him. Draco stood, not crying. He never cried before his father. Anxiously, he looked at Hermione, glad to see that she was still pretending to be asleep. If she let Lucius know she was awake…she was dead. Draco cared little for the sharp pain in his legs right now, so long as he could protect Hermione.

"Now, boy." Lucius's smirked. "I've been hearing rumours about you and that filthy piece of trash. Prove those liars wrong, and you will be rewarded. Kill her."

Draco turned his back on his father and pulled out his wand, pointing it at Hermione. He knew he had no choice left…he had to disarm his father. But was he quick. His father was a death-eater. His father was trained to have his wand in his hand and a hex flying from it in less than a second. Draco had minimal training, and the training he had had was from his father himself – he knew all the Draco could do. But he had to try. Because if he didn't kill Hermione, his father would. _Like he was going to kill Hermione. _

He was in a situation beyond desperate. But he knew that he didn't have any choices at all, to be able to make the right one. It was fight, or fight. That was it. So steeling himself, Draco tightened his hand on his wand, trying to stay relaxed so his father wouldn't see any intention. _Clear your mind. _

_In the bed, Hermione was struggling. She heard the sickening sound of Lucius's stupid ugly wand cane thwacking against Draco…and she wanted to jump up. But she knew that she couldn't or shouldn't. She was so weak – she couldn't duel Lucius in the state she was in. She had every faith that Draco, as skilled with a wand as he was, could hold his own against his father. But still, trying not to make a sound, Hermione's hand began to move beneath her covers. Towards the bedside cabinet. Towards her wand. Just in case Draco needed her. Weak or not, she wouldn't let Lucius torture him. _

In a flash, Draco spun and cast Expelliarmus silently, but was met by a forceful Protego, as expected. His father wasn't close to the Dark Lord because he was slow or stupid.

"Draco, Draco, Draco." Hissed his father. "So it's true, is it? My son, in love with a mudblood."

"What does it matter?" Draco spat out. "I am not your son."

"Draco…don't be absurd. We can end this now. Kill her, come home with me, and we'll forget you tried that on." Lucius said, his wand ready in his hand. _What was going on? His son had always been so malleable, so easy to manipulate. What was wrong with the boy that now he turned on him?_

"Home? Home?" Draco's face screwed up. "To what, _dad_? To more beatings? To more of your screaming fits? To see more of what you've done to my mother? I don't WANT to be like you, dad. I don't WANT to become a death-eater and be some pathetic puppet."

Lucius was silent for a moment, his face drawn as he realised that it was too late. His son had chosen his path to walk…chosen the wrong one, the stupid one…and now there was no turning back. Draco had ruined everything, all of Lucius's cleverly laid plans to secure a future for his son as an emperor of darkness, as a man of wealth and power…like Lucius.

"And the mudblood?" Lucius asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "I take it that this is her work?"

"I love her. I LOVE HER WITH ALL OF MY HEART."

_Foolish boy. _

"CRUCIO!" Yelled Lucius and in seconds the insolent boy was on the floor writhing in agony. "Take it back." Lucius hissed, his voice low and dangerous. "Now."

_Hermione stiffened in panic. He was actually torturing him. And she couldn't find her wand on the cabinet. It was then that she remembered it was still in the pocket of her robes, on the floor. Rolling slightly, she began to snake her arm down the side of her bed. _

"Never." Hissed Draco through the raging agony. It was like having all of his bones broken at once. Like being sliced at repeatedly with razor blades. Like having his innards ripped out. Like being strangled and choked and burnt alive all at the same time. But still, renounce his love for Hermione? Never.

"CRUCIO!" Lucius yelled , again. He wanted his son to suffer. Suffer for his stupid words about the filthy mudblood girl, suffer for renouncing his lord, and suffer for disrespecting and turning on his father. "CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO!"

Draco was fast losing grip on anything real except the pain., He fancied that the floor had vanished, and that the cruel voice of his father was ten million light years away. He thought that he must be dying…because it definitely felt like it. _Dying for love, how romantic. _His father just kept cursing him and each time he spoke the unforgivable, waves of pain erupted through every nerve ending. Draco knew he was crying out…but he didn't know why…because nobody would save him. With that thought and with the pain so strong he knew he was dying, Draco faded away.

Lucius looked down at the unconscious body of his son and felt nothing. Lucius rarely felt anything. The boy had begun to bleed from his nose and his ears...the curse did that sometimes, when used in excessive. The boy was deathly pale, a look of pain frozen on his face. Lucius decided he should end it…while the boy was out. Maybe he was already dead…but it was best to make sure.

"Avada ked…"

But his curse to end his son's life was cut off. By a vase of flowers that someone had unceremoniously hurled at his head. Surprised at such an impromptu and ridiculous attack, Lucius turned from his idiot son to be confronted with something he had never before seen, in all his year death-eater.

A slightly manic looking girl, dressed in a hospital gown, with her hair sticking up everywhere and a wand held in her hand as she stood shakily on top of a pile of robes.

"Oh, the mudblood is awake," sneered Lucius, trying to regain some form of composure. He was struck by a ridiculous urge to laugh at the pathetic child. This shouldn't take long. She was a mudblood for god's sake – how the hell was she planning to stand up to him in any kind of duel? He struck, as fast as the snake that he was. "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

"PROTEGO!" Hermione screamed, suddenly scared. This man had tortured his own son till his screams were incoherent and mad…and yet she'd just stood up with a wand in her hand (after throwing a vase at his head) and openly challenged him…when she was at her weakest.

Lucius frowned. She'd retaliated…reacted faster than she should have…

"CRUCIO!"

Knowing what his next spell would be and knowing no protego, however powerful, would block it, Hermione flung herself to the floor and miraculously the torturous curse flew just over her head.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Hermione yelled…knowing that he would block it and knowing he would cast again.

"CRUCIO!" This time, it hit it's target and Hermione writhed on the floor in agony. But she could see Draco, pale and deathlike metres away…and knew that if she was out of the picture then he would be too. A world without Draco didn't seem like any kind of world – even if she wasn't alive to be in it. So, through sheer willpower and strength of love, Hermione cast her one last hope, a wordless stupefy, pulling her wand sharply through the air so fast the Lucius shouldn't see it coming.

And he didn't.

Like a piece of paper, he crumpled to the floor. Dragging herself over to his still body, weak and nauseous, Hermione grasped his cane and with the last of her strength snapped his wand into pieces. Then she crawled over to Draco, who was lying impossibly still and cold on the floor. For a second she felt for a pulse but finding none, kissed him, one last time.

And then, with the last vestiges of her energy gone, Hermione let out a gasp of surprise as a sharp pain shot in her chest. Clutching breathlessly at her chest she wondered what this new, completely physical pain was. She didn't wonder for long, because she fell forwards, and landed unconscious on the floor as her heart gave up against the toxin that it had been fighting and went into fully fledged cardiac arrest.


	14. Chapter 14

**14) Set in stone. **

_Everything was dark. There was no light, anymore, nothing to hold onto. No solid foundation. She had left him alone in the dark, spinning far from home, in a place where there was no escape and no way back._

_The noises he had earlier were clear in his head. _

_Her strange scream, and the sound of footsteps. Ginny Weasley screaming…and then more footsteps as she ran away. Then Professor Snape. His normally calm voice frenzied as he spoke the words which would stay with Draco forever. Cardiac arrest. Her heart has given up. I'm too late. _

_And then he'd heard them lifting her and taking her away. He heard doors shutting and low murmured voice around him. Everything hurt and he cried openly. The only person who had ever seen him cry was her and now she was gone. _

_He lay like that for a while, choking on tears, and on his own overbearing grief. He couldn't brief past the lump in his throat. Her face haunted him, flying in and out of his grief-stricken rambling. _

_The softness of her brown hair. The sparkle in her brown eyes. The gentle curve of her lips, so warm and soft and kissable. The way her hand had felt on his body. _

_He couldn't sleep because when he slept, he saw her, trapped in some kind of hellish purgatory, looking at him with eyes that condemned and accused._

_He should have been better. He should have been able to save her. But he hadn't been good enough, he'd been too weak, he'd left her to fend all alone and now she was gone. _

_The things that she said. The way that she laughed. The softness in her eyes when they met his. How she'd held him when he cried. The night they'd spent asleep under the stars. The slight frown line she got when she was concentrating. _

_All of it, gone. _

_The next torture was her funeral. He didn't know how he got there. _

_But he was there, dressed in a black suit he didn't recognise, stood alone at the side of the congregation of mourners. Nobody spoke to him. Nobody spoke at all. It was a time of silence, of tears and pain. _

_Ginny wept in Harry's arm, Ron leaned his head in mourning against Lavender's shoulder, Luna squeezed Neville's hand between hers. They all had their puzzle pieces, but Draco didn't have his. He would never love again, because he had lost the only person that had ever truly understood him, and understood him without him ever having to explain anything. _

_And then, everyone else was gone, leaving him alone. Nobody had spoken, nobody had looked at him. Because they all blamed him too, for the death of the brilliant and beautiful witch. He should have saved her. He should have died in her place. But hadn't and now he paid the ultimate price. Living in a world, a life, that had collapsed around him. Where there was nothing good or sweet or happy. Where there was a permanent dementor attached to his soul. _

_The pain was much to real. As he approached the grave, the old muggle phrase floated into his head. Time will heal all wounds._

_But a wound like this? A deep, festering, painful wound? The pain was much too real, and there was just so much that no amount of time could erase. Her touch, unlike her life, was permanent. Never fading. No plaster could cover or repair the damage that his original saviour had left behind. He'd chosen to walk on the path of good with her, and the price had been one he was not willing to pay. Her life. _

_She had ripped open the seams of his past, and resorted everything so he saw it in a new and sparkling light. But now…what good was there to the side of Light without her? What was left to him, but to follow in the footsteps that had already been laid out? He had no soul left, for she had taken it. He had no love, for she still held it in the stiffness of her dead hands. He had nothing left to live for, but everything to die for. _

_He laid his hand on the cold marble of the stone tomb._

_He had thought that their love was set in stone…but now her name was set in stone._

_Hermione Jean Granger, "Death lies upon her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field"…Draco's cold fingers traced the sparkly golden words, remembering Hermione telling him it was a line from her favourite play by the muggle poet Shakespeare. He wondered who had chosen it. Probably her parents. They had been there…but he hadn't seen their faces, only their backs, bent and drawn with grief. _

"_I loved you," he whispered. "I love you so much. Why did you have to die? Did you not think about what you would do to those you left behind?"_

_But he knew that wasn't fair. She hadn't walked away. Her heart hadn't chosen to give up. He knew, if she could, she would have fought to the bitter end. _

_Somehow though, he still expected to see her, to watch her walk towards him down the slope of the hill, to stand by him and say it was all a mistake. He wanted her to come back. _

_But if he knew anything, anything at all, it was that death was final. _

_And so he stood up, looking for all the world like the Grim Reaper himself, tall and pale in his black suit. _

_There was no coming back for him._

_Today he would leave the castle, and leave her grave. Leave the place where her face was everywhere, around every corner, behind every shelf, beneath every table. Leave the place where the ghost of her life lived on to haunt him. Leave the place where he fancied he could hear her soft footsteps. Leave the place where she had once eaten. Once cried. Once spoken. Once hummed. Once slept. Once been heartbroken. Once loved. And the place where she had died, where she had taken her last breath, spoken her last word. _

_He would leave Hermione Jean Granger behind, and give his mind and body over to the one who had no emotions, not even grief. That was what Draco wanted. To become like the Dark Lord. To live in a world where there was just power and glory, and no pain and no tears. _

_The old Draco, he left at the grave side, and walked towards the gates of Hogwarts, the gates through which he would walk to his own twisted salvation. _

_He didn't hear the people following him, calling to him. Not yet. _

**SORRY. I'M SORRY, OKAY? xxxxxxxxxx**


	15. Chapter 15

**15) Saving Draco**

_Draco walked on, ignoring the shouts of the people behind him. He cared not who they were or what they wanted. All he cared about was that they were not her. Because she was gone. The people would only him a certain distance, he knew that much. He knew that when he crossed a certain barrier, a certain line drawn between the sides, they couldn't follow. _

_He knew that when he went to bow down and pledge his allegiance to the Lord who can help him, who could teach his how to destroy himself to a point where he felt no emotion, they would not follow. Because they were worthy. They would have been able to save her. _

_He wondered where his father had gone. He hadn't seen him in a while. Maybe he should find him…tell him his bout of stupidity was over…tell him he renounced her…bow down to him. But first he would find and pledge himself to the Dark Lord. _

Snape sat in his study, a pile of books before him. He couldn't find the information he needed. He searched desperately, through his endless books on the dark arts…but he knew he wouldn't find the information he needed. He needed nicer books than this…than the ones that only told of how to hurt people. He needed something to help Draco…to make him come back. But he didn't know how. Nobody did .The pain he was under was too powerful, and had too strong a hold on him. Snape knew what pain and fear could drive someone to do…it could drive them out of their mind…Everyone had tried to talk to Draco, to bring him back, but he ignored everyone. He was still and cold and his eyes didn't see them properly. They were shadows to him, shadows in a world that was nothing but burning agony.

Snape took a glass and dragged out a bottle of Firewhiskey and meted out a small portion for himself. For once in his life, Severus Snape actually felt weak. He should have known that Lucius would turn up…he should have put protective wards around the hospital wing…he should never have left Draco and poor Hermione alone. It was his fault, that all of this had happened and now it was his responsibility to help Draco, even if it was impossible.

It was possible that the boy was too far gone…that he would wander too far off the path of the Light that he could never return to himself. But Snape couldn't let that happen…wouldn't let that happen.

_Draco looked down at himself and was surprised to see that he was now wearing Death Eater robes. He didn't remember putting them on. But then he didn't remember much anymore, but the massive aching hole in his life. _

_He'd only ever seen the Dark Lord from behind. He remembered, just that summer, seeing a pale bald head, attached to a body in velvet black robes. His dad had been bowed at his feet, and Narcissa had come and pulled her son away, furious that he had left his room when she told him he had to stay there for safety. It was the one and only time that Narcissa employed corporal punishment on her son, with her hairbrush, because she was terrified of what might have happened to him had the Dark Lord sensed the presence of the, powerful, impressionable boy. Draco had been mortified…he was sixteen and over his mother's knee…Draco remembered how furious she had been and how keen she was to keep him away from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. But it was too late. Nobody mattered to him now, not even his mother. _

_And he found himself in a room. He didn't know where it was and he didn't remember getting there. He could see the Dark Lord, his back to him, like that summer. _

"_My Lord, I bow before you." Draco replied. _

"_Will you serve me, forever?" _

"_I will, my Lord." Draco was on his knees, prepared to kiss the ground the man walked on. "Teach me, my Lord, how not to feel." _

"_How not to feel?" The Dark Lord hissed. "It's easy, my boy. But I sense that you are not mine. Not yet. You need to free yourself of your ghost. Exorcise the filthy ghost and return to me." _

Harry, Ron and Ginny were huddled together in a corner. Ginny was sobbing into Harry's arms and Ron sat awkwardly, feeling like a third wheel.

"Ssh, Gin, c'mon." Harry mumbled into the soft red hair that he loved.

"But…what if…he doesn't come back?" Ginny burst into a fresh round of sobs. She'd started to like Draco and it was like they were losing him, and there was no way to find him again.

"Ginny," Harry said, finally tired of her worrying and crying. He took her face in his hands and looked her full in the face. "Stop this. He needs us all to be strong. Do you hear me?"

Surprised at the bossiness in his tone, Ginny nodded and buried into his chest. He smiled slightly and stroked her hair. He knew that Professor Snape was researching a way to help Draco, and he hoped to the high heavens he found one soon.

_Draco found himself back at Hermione's grave, stroking the letters again. He was aware of people watching him. Potter, Weasley, Ginny._

"_C'mon Draco." Ginny said softly. "Come back to us."_

"_NO!" Draco yelled. How could he exorcise her? He wanted her gone, she haunted him, and he wanted to never feel again. How could he get rid of the face imprinted on the inside of his eyelids, so he saw her every time he closed his eyes? "TAKE HER AWAY." He screamed at Weasley._

"_Huh?" The gormless boy said. "What's he on about?"_

"_TAKE HER, YOU WANT HER, I KNOW YOU DO. SAY SHE'S YOURS."_

"_Uh…she's mine?" Ron muttered._

_But that didn't work. Not even Weasley taking some claim of her could help. Because even sharing her out wouldn't get rid of the fact that she still had all of Draco. All of his heart and all of his soul and all of anything he ever was. _

"_GIVE IT BACK." He yelled at the grave, pounding it with his fists. It didn't feel like stone. It was soft. "GIVE ME BACK WHAT YOU TOOK!" _

_But how could he be angry, how could he hate her, when she hadn't taken anything? He had given it to her. He had laid it down at her godly feet. And she had been sweet enough to take him and cherish him and love him…and then she had left him. He was bound by the life that she had left behind. He wished there was an escape…but now he could see there was not._

_He could not pledge himself to the Dark Lord, because he could not exorcise his demons. The demons of remorse and condemnation. He had destroyed the only good thing in his life because he couldn't protect her, like he should have done. _

_So what was he to do?_

_He couldn't return to a life that was without her, and he couldn't go forwards to a life of no emotion, serving under Lord Voldemort. _

_He was stuck, with no choices at all. _

_And those three idiots wouldn't stop staring at him as he pounded his hands against the tomb of his beloved. _

"_GO AWAY!" Draco yelled at them._

"_THEN COME BACK!" Ginny yelled back at him, suddenly so close that he could smell her flowery hair. "COME BACK, YOU IDIOT!" _

"_I…I can't…not…not to a life…without her." Draco turned away and walked towards the gates again._

"_WITHOUT WHO?" Ginny yelled at his retreating back. _

_He shook his head. She must be stupid. She was standing next to the tomb of the only girl that had ever meant anything…and yet she asked who it was he couldn't live without. Dumb girl. She didn't have a patch on her. Smart and beautiful. Talented and funny. Kind and loving. Dead. _

_Draco found himself on the fourth floor corridor where it had all begun. Where he had first found himself captivated by the girl. He smiled faintly as he envisaged her, small and fragile, crying into her hands. He sat down against the wall and shut his eyes, pretending she was there. Wanting her to be there…in his arms…forever. _

_But there was a way for them to be together…he thought. She was dead. He was alive. No spell can awaken the dead…but as for the living…the living could die. _

_With a sudden wave of decisiveness, Draco began to head towards the astronomy tower, a new resolve in his painful heart. _

_Flinging himself off the highest tower ought to sort all of that out. If he could join her…see her in death…then all would be well. _

"Professor Snape?"

"What is it Miss Weasley?" Snape asked, looking up from the book he held in his hands, still searching desperately for a way, anyway. But surely if there was one then Alice and Frank wouldn't be in Saint Mungo's. _Try, for god's sake, Severus. _

"Draco has been shouting, sir. I think you should come." Ginny looked concerned. "He's making very little sense."

"Is that not to be expected, you dunderheaded child?" Snape snapped angrily. He wasn't in the mood to be told what he already knew. He KNEW that Draco was suffering. He KNEW that Draco was hurting. He didn't need to bear witness.

"But I think…" Ginny frowned, her brown eyes thoughtful. "Please, sir. I think I might know how we can save him."


	16. Chapter 16

**16) Draco opened his eyes**

Sighing in exasperation at being interrupted from his intense research, Professor Snape strode after the petite girl, who moved surprisingly fast for her size. He hurried to keep up, wondering how on earth the Weasley girl thought she had a solution when he had spent hours with the most complex of magical books…and where so many others had failed.

"Miss Weasley!" He called and she skidded to a halt.

"Yes sir?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"You do realise that I have been researching this and have found no solution? And that many before me have done just that, and yet the ward of St Mungo's still holds many people in Draco's current condition…"

"Yes, sir, I get it!" She interrupted. "But I don't think that Draco's case is like theirs. I don't think it's the same."

"Are you too hot child? Over-excited?" Snape snapped out. "How on earth could it not be the same?"

"Look, I can't explain. Ron and Harry think I'm wrong…but…look just give me a chance for goodness sake! Come and see him, and then tell me I'm wrong."

Snape raised an eyebrow at her slight disrespect. She was so obstinate.

"Very well, Miss Weasley. But if I deem that you are wasting my time then you shall find yourself in detention for the rest of your time at Hogwarts." He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not wrong, Professor." Ginny challenged and carried on her way to Draco, an intrigued Professor Snape following in her wake.

_Draco stood at the top of the tower, his hands resting on the brickwork of the parapet. Would it hurt, when he hit the ground?_

_Would it hurt…as much as he was hurting now?_

_In the distance, he could make out the gravestone…and the soft ground beneath which everything was buried. He could see before his the expanse of a life without her…blindly striding through the years, alone and untouched, mourning and full of a grief that would rip him apart._

_And he could see, tantalisingly, what would happen if he jumped off the ledge. _

_But his mother…his mother would feel the way he felt now. Could he do that to her? Fill her with grief which made her want to jump off the highest ledge, which made her want to pledge herself to darkness, which made her want to rid herself of soul and emotions? _

_He hovered on the brink, unsure of what to do. He knew that he did not want to live. But was that a good enough reason to jump?_

_But to be with her…that was a good enough reason…but his mother….but to be with her…but his mother…_

"He's going to jump, sir."

"Well observed, Mr Weasley. Sometimes I wonder why you weren't put in Ravenclaw." Snape observed drily.

"How do we stop him?" Ginny asked anxiously. This wasn't going according to plan…Draco hadn't been suicidal when she left him. "Will he die?"

"I do not know, Miss Weasley. It is not likely. However…if he does jump, he may not be…_recoverable." _

_It is not likely…what did that mean? He could sense his Professor and his three fellow students behind him and he could hear what they spoke…but they didn't come closer, to grab him, to pull him away from the ledge._

_Why did Snape say it wasn't likely for him to die? Of course he would…he was so high up…it was such a long way down…the ground looked so solid. _

_He turned around, and saw them all stood there staring at him. He didn't know what to say and no words were coming…so he turned away again. He didn't like the pity in their eyes. And he didn't like the fact that they were okay. Harry and Ron had been friends with her for six years, and Ginny for five, yet they stood with dry eyes and slight smiles, like they had no care in the world. Like the most precious angel hadn't been snatched unfairly from their lives. _

"_I love her," Draco murmured, choking on his words. "I still love her. Why? How?" Draco didn't understand how his heart still belonged to someone now there to love him. How he felt like she was right next to him, all the time, even though he knew she was gone. How he felt like she could still be alive…when she was now nothing more than a rotting corpse with her name set in stone. He thought it was a cruelty beyond anything that he could understand – the fact that life didn't let the bereaved forget and move on. It was evil._

"Who do you love, Draco?" Ginny asked quietly, aware that Professor Snape was watching. He too had heard Draco's whispered profession of love.

"Who do you think?" Was Draco's curt reply.

_The ginger girl was stupid. Or maybe she wasn't…maybe it was him that was stupid. Stupid and broken, because he couldn't heal his bloody, broken heart. Did that make him weak? His father hated weakness. It was then that he remembered his father…he could go to him…Lucius would kill him. Lucius would kill him with more certainty than the ground would…and his mother wouldn't mourn him too long because she would be too consumed with hatred to her husband. _

"_I must go to my father." Draco said firmly. _

"You can't! Draco your father is..." Snape clapped a hand over Ginny's mouth and glared at her.

"Do you want him to jump, you idiotic girl?" Snape hissed.

_Why did she want him to jump? _

_Draco turned around and walked towards them…he wasn't sure what he intended to do…but before he reached them, they were gone. Where had they gone? He spun around, calling for them…_

"_Ginny? Weasley? Potter? Professor?" _

_There was no reply. _

_Draco found himself running around the hospital, looking for them. Where were they? Why weren't they there? There was a cruel ring of laughter following him…his father's…laughing in glee as he tortured someone…killed someone…_

_Draco ran down to her grave and knelt beside it. _

"_Where are they?" he whispered. "Oh sweet ghost, tell me where they…"_

_But he didn't finish his sentence, for he saw them. What he had not seen before. Three gravestones, behind the one of his beloved. _

_He stumbled over to them._

"_No…" he whispered…"No…"_

_So they had died too, at the hands of his father…like her. It was his fault._

_Had he done what he should have done all along…stopped his heart from falling…had he never told her that he loved her, his father would have never come to the school…she would still be alive, and so would her friends. _

_Professor Snape…must have been on his father's side….that's why he wasn't dead. Why his grave didn't lie with that of the teenagers._

"_Snape, you dirty traitor," Draco whispered, his fingers unconsciously digging into the dirt and grass beneath his, ripping and tearing at the soft ground. _

"Mr Malfoy, of what do you accuse me?" Snape demanded.

"_You…you…and my father…killed them all." Draco said softly, turning to look at the man who leant against her tombstone. A rush of anger filled him…how dare the man defile the sacred stone of his beloved…how dare he touch what signified her life and her death. "GET OFF IT, GET OFF HER GRAVESTONE! SHE WAS MINE, MINE, NOT YOURS. MINE TO LOVE, NOT YOURS TO KILL! BASTARD." Draco fumbled for his wand, but couldn't find it. Where was it? What had happened to it? _

Snape could feel triumphant eyes looking at him…and now he understood what was wrong with Draco…and he was willing to admit he had been wrong to mock Ginny. But how he proceeded now would have to be done with extreme care, for fear of making things worse.

"Draco, my boy, nobody is dead."

_Nobody dead? What kind of man was his Professor? Was he THAT heartless that he thought that the deaths of these people didn't matter, just because they were Gryffindors? Followers of the Light? She had taken his hand…showed him how…he'd believed in all that she had said…and Snape dismissed her, as if her life meant nothing. As if it had never meant anything. All her sweet words, all her smiles, her healing touch…meant nothing to the cold, callous man. _

"_She was my EVERYONE." Draco yelled back at the evil bat. "SHE WAS NOT NOBODY. BASTARD." _

"Draco…who is dead?"

_A new voice…he recognised it…but how? It sounded like the Weasley girl…_

"_G…G…Ginny?" He whispered, looking at her name on the grave. "Y…you're dead."_

"_I'm not." The girls voice was soft, and close. He could smell her again, like last time she'd been close. He felt the pressure of her hand in his, but when he turned to look she wasn't there. He held onto her hand tightly, despite the absence of her._

_Jump…jump…jump…Snape's cruel malice urged him to go back to the tower…to end his life…he was now holding the hand of a ghost, surely it wouldn't be that much of a change to step from the world of living to the world of the dead? Then he could see Ginny…and her. _

"_I want to see her, Ginny." Draco told the presence by his shoulder. "Is she with you? If I die too, will I be able to see her?"_

"Hermione?" Ginny said. Snape glared at her, furious. He had told her not to mention her name…it might make Draco worse.

_Hermione…Hermione. He hadn't heard her name spoken aloud for so long. It was sweeter than the sweetest flower…like the sun on a cold winter day…like a breath of fresh air in a musty room. The ground felt more solid beneath his feet…he no longer felt like he had no foundations._

"_Hermione." He whispered. "Hermione. I didn't get to say goodbye to Hermione."_

"There was no need to say goodbye." Ginny replied.

"_Why? Did she know I loved her?" Draco asked, now ignoring Snape, who was still sitting on the gravestone. _

"She knows." Ginny answered, feeling triumphant. She had been right. Stupid Professor Snape.

Harry and Ron had slipped out a while ago on Ginny's whispered instruction…and now they returned, with Professor Pomfrey…wheeling a hospital bed.

"No!" Snape said angrily. "Absolutely not!"

"Professor, you said that I could try. If this doesn't work, sir, nothing will." Ginny beseeched.

"It's far too dangerous, young lady. You are far too uneducated to understand the complexities of the human brain…"

"Professor, you are looking at this wrong." Ginny snapped, not even caring that she was being rude anymore. She could see the clear path to save her friend ,even if Snape couldn't. "Maybe I don't understand the complexities of the human brain. But I am a teenager. Forgive me for speaking plainly sir, but you are not a teenager so have less understanding of the teenage brain than I do. Trust me, sir. And stop being a prat. Please come in Madame Pomfrey."

Snape was pushed to the side of the room, seething. He wanted nothing than to punish the insolent, rude girl for her disrespect…but it seemed right now he was powerless to do anything than watch as she blindly attempted to manoeuvre waters she had no understanding of.

Once the hospital bed was in place, Ginny took the hand which Draco already held…and placed it in Hermione's warm hand.

_Draco froze._

_Ginny's hand had gone…to be replaced by one that felt more real. One that was warm and solid, one which blood was pumping through…_

_A hand that he recognised. The hand that wiped away his tears. That had held his, so many times. The hand that had written so beautifully with a quill. That had pulled his face to hers. That had touched the ridges of his six-pack…that had thrown a vase at his father, as he tortured his son into insanity…._

Draco opened his eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

17) Missing puzzle piece 

"Hermione?" Draco croaked from dry, cracked lips. Her hand was warm…yet she was still and unmoving. Snape swept forwards from where he was lurking in the background.

"Madame Pomfrey, I believe it best that Miss Granger be returned to her special room now. Remember what the muggle doctor aid – we have to keep her on the drip." He frowned formidably and Madame Pomfrey obliging wheeled the girl away.

Draco sat up and watched her go with a plaintive look on his face, realising with a sudden pang of hunger how hungry he was.

"Here." Snape said curtly, handing him a plate of unbuttered toast. "Eat."

Draco forgot pretty much everything for a few minutes while he devoured four slices of dry toast and drank two glasses of cold water. When he'd done, he noticed Ginny sitting on the bed next to his, with Harry and Weasley either side of her.

"You're dead." He said, pointing at them. "You're all dead."

"Shut up, you prat." Weasley said, but was silenced by a glare from Snape.

"Nobody is dead, Draco." Snape assured him calmly.

"But…but…Hermione! Hermione is dead! _Death lies upon her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field! _I remember! You can't trick me! Why am I wearing this hospital dress thing? I want to leave! I want to die! Let me go, let me go, let ME GO!"

Draco was struggling against the body-bind curse that Snape had cast wordlessly the moment he saw the boy enter a predictable panic. He frowned wildly for a few minutes, before realising the futility.

"Miss Granger is not dead, Mr Malfoy, remember? You saw her just now, You held her hand. It woke you up."

"I wasn't asleep…I wasn't asleep…"

"Ha, asleep definitely wouldn't be the word," snorted Harry, and Snape glared at him.

"Mr Malfoy, why are you under the impression that Miss Granger is dead?" Snape asked, pulling up a chair next to his bed. He noted, grumpily, that the annoying Ginny gnat was hovering by his shoulder.

"You said! You did!" Draco yelled.

"I did not."

"You did! You said…you said…'_Cardiac arrest. Her heart has given up. I'm too late.' _I HEARD you say that, I did_!"_

"Yes, Mr Malfoy. Miss Granger was under the influence of toxins from her bone potion. Her short duel with your father…"

"DID HE HURT HER?" Draco burst out over the top of Snape.

"On the contrary Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger stunned your father before her heart gave up." Snape decided it was best not to mention the fact that Lucius had in fact also used the Cruciatus curse on Hermione. "That said, the duel with him took the last energy her body had and her heart did indeed go into cardiac arrest. When I said I was too late, I meant that I was too late with my potion. As it happens, we got there in time and were able to deal with Miss Granger's heart."

"Well…then…why is she not awake?" Draco pouted.

"She was awake earlier, but she needs to sleep a lot while her heart builds up. She was worried about you, the bothersome girl. She wouldn't lie down."

Draco smiled clumsily. He looked a complete mess. His hair was stuck up all over the place, he was as white as the ghosts he'd imagined and his eyes had massive black bags under them…like he hadn't slept for weeks.

"Professor? What the hell happened?" Draco asked. He knew there was something…something important…something…just beyond his reach. A piece to a puzzle which his mind couldn't quite comprehend. He knew…there was something…that would make this all make sense. But what was it?

"I don't know if you're really well enough for me to…" Snape began.

"Your slime ball of a dad tortured you and you went a bit crazy." Ginny said boldly from behind Snape.

"Miss Weasley." Snape growled.

"What?"

While Snape scolded Ginny, Draco frowned. He could…there was something…ah. With a strange ringing noise in his ears and a sharp pain in his head, it all came rushing back. Finally. his father, standing with his wand as he tortured his son…he remembered now.

"So…" Snape stopped shouting at Ginny, and turned to Draco. "So, basically, I was tortured into insanity. Like Neville's parents."

"Yes," Snape answered at the same time as Ginny said "Not really."

"Miss Weasley, what?" Snape growled.

"Well sir, I think that he was a little bit insane but I think it was thinking that Hermione was dead that made his REALLY bonkers. Which is why only she could bring him back. He thought she was dead so he did in his head. And when he knew she wasn't, he stopped hiding."

"But Hermione's definitely alive?" Draco asked, and Snape noted with annoyance that he looked to Ginny. Interfering, idiotic girl.

"Yes, yes she is. I'm so glad you're okay."

Ginny launched herself at Draco before Snape could stop her and wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated slightly…but then hugged her back. She had, after all, brought him back from the brink of madness.

"Mr Malfoy, you will need to take supplements for a few days to build both your body and your mind back up. Bed rest is also a must." Snape instructed.

"Can I see Hermione?" Draco asked, anxiously.

"You can see her tomorrow."

"But…"

"Tomorrow or next week, your choice." Snape replied silkily. Draco glared.

"Tomorrow." He muttered. "Professor, where is my dad?"

Snape paused for a moment, looking down at the boy. Was he worried about the man that had tried to kill him?

"Your father is in Azkaban, Draco. Where he belongs."

"Good." Draco replied. "He tried to hurt Hermione."

"Actually, he is in Azkaban for what he did to you," Snape replied tersely.

"But I'm his son!"

"That does not mean he is allowed to use Unforgivables on you! Or torture you, for that matter. Ever."

Draco smiled at those words, as he drifted off into a totally normal, non-hallucinating dream. Snape looked down at him for a moment...and wondered if perhaps Ginny was correct, and his madness wasn't to be fully blamed on the Cruciatus curse. He instructed the three children to leave and left too, turning the lights out. Draco would be out like a light for a very long while – his insane mind had been fully active and so the effect on his body was that of sleep deprivation.

As he shut the door, he noticed the three rascals trying to make a quick escape.

"Miss Weasley, a word." He called and noted with satisfaction that her posture slumped. The boys hurried off, shooting her sympathetic glances and she turned around. "Detention, Saturday evening, Miss Weasley."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed. "I BROUGHT Draco back and you're giving me a stupid detention?"

"On the contrary Miss Weasley, 50 points to Gryffindor for using your brain and acting in the intention of saving a friend."

Ginny frowned.

"So why do I have detention?"

"I quote, Miss Weasley, from a source I am sure you are familiar with." Professor Snape formed quotation marks with his fingers. "_Stop being a prat." _Snape watched in satisfaction as she flushed red, and leaving his sardonic words hanging in the air, spun on his heel and stalked back to the dungeons, leaving Hermione and Draco is Pomfrey's capable hands, and Ginny looking like a goldfish as she recalled her impulsive insult.


End file.
